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A  DREA 


i:CT()R8  ALWAYS. 


f^ 


PREFACE, 


fHE  police  of  many  cities  have  marked  characteristics ;  but 
the  Providence  force  occupies  an  enviable  position.  Its 
members  have  more  than  a  mercenary  interest  in  the  com- 
munity they  protect.  They  are  taxpayers,  and  many  of  them 
house-owners  as  well  as  householders.  Their  welfare  is  identified 
with  the  welfare  of  Providence,  and  they  have  and  display  a  true 
Rhode  Island  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility.  They  have  made 
the  city  one  of  the  safest  and  most  orderly  in  the  world.  They 
have  taught  the  class  who  make  a  living  by  crime  to  dread  and 
avoid  Rhode  Island,  and  some  of  the  most  infamous  criminals 
that  ever  preyed  upon  the  American  public  have  met  their 
Nemesis  in  our  great  little  Commonwealth. 

The  Providence  police,  I  have  said,  are  not  of  the  mercenary 
stripe.  With  them  no  perfunctory  obedience  takes  the  place  of 
a  sense  of  duty.  They  are  vigilant  for  the  well-being  of  the 
city,  not  only  because  they  are  policemen,  but  because  they  are 
citizens.  And  the  people,  on  their  part,  are  justly  proud  of  the 
force,  and  feel  and  display  a  remarkable  interest  in  all  that  con- 
cerns its  advancement.  The  people  of  Providence  know  that  a 
community  can  be  judged  by  its  police ;  that  where  the  police  are 
well  disciplined,  fairly  remunerated,  intelligent,  and  of  good 
physical  appearance,  one  may  expect  to  find  a  prosperous,  pro- 
gressive, and  enlightened  municipality ;  and  the  high  standard  of 
the  Providence  force  is  powerful  evidence  that  our  city  means  to 
keep  in  the  front  rank. 

It  is  eminently  proper  that  such  a  police  force  should  have  a 
permanent  record.  The  history  of  the  police  is,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent, the  history  of  our  city,  and  the  writer  is  confident  that  this 
fact  will  be  more  apparent  than  ever  before,  upon  a  perusal  of 
these  pages.  Every  memorable  step  in  the  progress  of  Provi- 
dence from  the  first  strucrcrlinor  settlement,  has  involved  some 
improvement  in  the  system  of  police.     The  first  town  sergeant 


HI 


M83185 


iV  PREFACE. 

came  in  under  the  earlier  charter ;  the  disorders  attendant  upou 
the  revolution  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  night  watch;  the 
Hardscrabble  and  Olney's  Lane  riots  showed  the  inefficiency  of 
that  watch  for  the  maintenance  of  order,  and  led  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  City  Marshal  under  the  new  city  government ;  and 
when  Providence,  under  the  leadership  of  Thomas  Arthur  Doyle, 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  began  to  be  a  city  in  fact  as 
well  as  in  name,  the  present  force  was  organized,  surpassed  by 
no  other  in  the  land  in  the  qualities  that  constitute  an  efficient 
police. 

This  book,  then,  has  a  field  of  the  deepest  interest  to  our  citi- 
zens. It  is  eminently  the  time  for  such  a  work  to  be  written. 
The  old  watchmen  and  other  venerable  residents,  whose  remin- 
iscences of  the  past  are  invaluable,  will  soon  have  passed  away. 
Data  now  easily  procurable  will  have  disappeared  in  a  few  years. 
The  period  now  is  when  the  police  force  has  reached  a  position 
of  general  and  acknowledged  excellence,  and  the  story  of  its  past — 
sometimes  picturesque,  sometimes  exciting,  and  always  interest- 
ing— must  be  made  enduring  before  the  records  and  recollections 
have  lost  their  freshness  and  accuracy.  If  I  have  failed  in 
making  the  history  perfect  it  is  not  for  lack  of  appreciation  of 
the  deserts  and  merits  of  the  Providence  police. 

To  designate  all  the  sources  of  information  to  which  the 
writer  is  indebted  would  occupy  many  pages.  It  was  a  saying 
of  Senator  Anthony — or,  as  we  used  to  call  him  in  the  old  Jour- 
nal office,  "Governor  Anthony" — that  he  meant  so  to  edit  the 
Journal^  that  Rhode  Island  history  could  not  be  written  without 
continual  reference  to  its  pages,  and  the  writer  hsu  spent  many  a 
day  poring  over  the  Journal  files,  both  of  ancient  and  recent 
■  date.  To  the  Providence  Daily  Telegram  he  is  also  indebted  for 
valuable  data,  and  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Historical  Society,  and 
the  Librarians  of  the  Public  Library  and  the  Athenaeum,  for 
courteously  extended  facilities.  Secretary  Blanding,  of  the  Po- 
lice Association,  and  Clerk  Horton  have  also  been  most  accom- 
modating in  granting  information  at  their  command,  and,  while 
members  of  the  force  have  displayed  a  proper  modesty  when 
Questioned  as  to  their  personal  merits  and  achievements,  they 


PREFACE.  T 

Lave  never  been  backward  or  ungenerous  in  giving  due  credit  to 
their  fellow-oflBcers  of  the  department.  The  writer  has  in  no 
instance  been  content  with  records  where  personal  inquiry  was 
possible,  and  for  this  as  well  as  other  reasons  the  book  contains 
much  information  in  regard  even  to  notorious  cases  never  before 
given  to  the  public.  Like  the  hero  of  the  Odyssey  he  might  add 
that  he  has  been  a  part  of  much  that  he  describes,  and  the  char- 
acter sketches  are  largely  from  personal  knowledge  and  acquain- 
tance. To  the  people  of  Providence,  the  city  to  which  he  is 
attached  by  the  dearest  ties  of  early  manhood  and  maturer  years^ 
he  confidently  commends  this  work. 

HENRY  MANN. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island,  January  i,  1889. 


CONTENTS 


Preface iii 

List  of  Illustrations xix 

Roster  of  the  Force 505 

Index 512 


CHAPTER   I. 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  A  CHAM:pION  OF  ORDER. — PROVIDENCE  WITHOUT 
watchmen  or  constables. — GOVERNMENT  BY  ARBITRATION 
A  FAILURE. — THE  RHODE  ISLAND  CODE  OF  1647. — A  HERO 
IMPRISONED  FOR  DEBT. — THE  TOWN  OF  PROVIDENCE  RECEIVES 
A  CHARTER. — THE  FIRST  TOWN  SERGEANT. — PROVIDENCE  AND 
WARWICK  REQUIRED  TO  ERECT  A  PRISON. — CRUEL  PUNISH- 
MENTS INFLICTED  ON  MALEFACTORS. — THE  CROPPED  AND 
BRANDED   THIEVES  A  TRAVELING  ROGUES '   GALLERY. 

Pages  17-28 
CHAPTER    II, 

THE  TOWN  COUNCIL  AND  THE  CONSTABLES. — ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
A  NIGHT-WATCH. — RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  FOR  ITS  GOVERN- 
MENT.— THE  WATCH  TO  ABSTAIN  FROM  SPIRITUOUS  LIQUORS. 

CALLING  THE  HOUR  OF  MIDNIGHT. — A  VOLUNTEER  WATCH  ES- 
TABLISHED.— LIGHTS  FORBIDDEN  AT  UNREASONABLE  HOURS. — 
LIBERATED  NEGROES  A  SOURCE  OF  TROUBLE. — THE  HARDSCRAB- 
BLE  AND  OLNEY'S  LANE  RIOTS. — DEADLY  ENCOUNTER  BETWEEN 
THE  MILITARY  AND  THE  MOB     ......      Pages  29-40 

vii 


Viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  FIRST  CITY  MARSHAL. — THE  OLD  WATCH-HOUSE  AND  ITS 
UNDERGROUND  CELLS. — ATTIRE  AND  APPEARANCE  OP  THE 
WATCHMEN. — DANGER  IN  THE  CAMLET  CLOAK. — INCIDENTS 
OF  THE   DORR   DISTURBANCE. — WATCHMEN  ARRESTED  BY  SEN- 

.  TRIES. — ESTABLISHMENT  OF  A  DAY  POLICE. — THE  MURDER 
OF  NIGHT-WATCHMAN  PULLEN. — A  DESPERADO  KILLED  BY  A 
WATCHMAN  IN  SELF-DEFENCE. — THE  CITY  DIVIDED  INTO  DIS- 
TRICTS.— HOW  THE  WATCH  PATROLLED  THEIR  BEATS — MAYOR 

RODMAN  ON  PROHIBITION Pages  41-64 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GROWTH  OF  PROVIDENCE  IN  WEALTH  AND  POPULATION. — THOMAS 
ARTHUR  DOYLE  ELECTED  TO  THE  MAYORALTY. — HE  CREATES 
THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  FORCE — "A  BODY  OF  MEN  OF  WHOM 
OUR  CITIZENS  ARE  JUSTLY  PROUD." — ADOPTION  OF  A  POLICE 
UNIFORM. — WRETCHED  CONDITION  OF  STATION-HOUSES,  EX- 
CEPT THE  CENTRAL. — OFFICE  OF  CITY  MARSHAL  ABOLISHED. — 
CAREER  OF  THE  LAST  CITY  MARSHAL  ....      Pages  66-65 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  FIRST  CHIEF  OF  POLICE. — SKETCH  OF  GENERAL  NELSON 
VIALL. — A  SOLITARY  YEAR  OP  PROHIBITION  IN  PROVIDENCE. — 
ALBERT  SANFORD,  WILLIAM  KNOWLES,  GROSS,  JOHN  M.  KNOWLES 
AND  AYER.  —  INCREASE  OF  THE  FORCE. — CHIEF  AYER  SUC- 
CEEDED BY  CHIEF  HUNT.— CONTEST  FOR  THE  CONTROL  OF  THE 
POLICE. — THE  CHIEF  BECOMES  COMMANDER  OF  THE  FORCE. — 
THE  CHARITY  WOOD-YARD. — MAYOR  HAYWARD  SUCCEEDS  MAYOR 
DOYLE. — MR.  DOYLE  AS  SENATOR  FROM  PROVIDENCE. — ^AGAIN 
ELECTED  MAYOR. — HIS  DEATH Pages  66-97 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

SKETCH    OF    MAYOR    ROBBINS.  —  POWERS    AND    DUTIES   OF    THB 
MAYOR. — MR.   ROBBINS   CONFRONTED  BY  GRAVE   PROBLEMS. — 

HE  ADVISES  PROVISION  FOR  INJURED  POLICE  AND  FIREMEN. 

THE    BOARD    OF    ALDERMEN. — PRESIDENT    SAMPSON. — ALDER- 
MEN ARMSTRONG,    ROGERS,    MCOSKER,    BURROWS,  SMITH,  HOOT 

AND  CASEY. — CITY  CLERK  JOSLiN     ....     Pages  98-124 


O RAF  TUB     VII. 


MAN. — RULES  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN. — TRIAL  OF  COM- 
PLAINTS.— SOME  OF  THE  DUTIES  OF  POLICE  OFFICERS. — THB 
SUBJECT  OF  A  PATROL  WAGON. — ALDERMAN  BENJAMIN  B. 
KINSLEY.  —  THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  HARD-WORKED  MEN. — 
PENSIONS  FOR  THE  DISABLED  AND  SUPERANNUATED 

Pages  125-141 
CHAPTER     VIII. 

CONSTITUTION   OF   THE    POLICE   FORCE. — DUTIES    OF    THE    CHIEF 

OF    POLICE. THE    DEPUTY    CHIEF. CAPTAINS,    LIEUTENANTS, 

SERGEANTS. — THE    SUPERINTENDENT    OF    HACKS. — CLERK    OF 

POLICE. — THE     DETECTIVES. — PATROLMEN. DRESS     UNIFORM 

OF  THE  FORCE. — NO  SUCH  OFFICIAL  AS  A  POLICE  SURGEON. — 
RULES  FOR  THE  POLICE  SURGEON    ....      Pages  142-159 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CHIEF    OF    POLICE    CHILD. — ^AN    HONORABLE    RECORD    OF    ARMY 
SERVICE. — WOUNDED   IN   PICKETT'S   CHARGE  AT   GETTYSBURG. 


CONTENTS. 

— TERRIBLE  SCENES  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  DRAFT  RIOTS. — PRO- 
MOTED FOR  BRAVERY  IN  THE  ARMY. — APPOINTMENT  ON  THE 
POLICE  FORCE. — THE  CHIEF'S  RECOMMENDATIONS. — A  WARN- 
ING TO  PARENTS.  —  CHIEF  STEWART  —  EX-SUPERINTENDENT 
WALLING. — MARSHAL   FREY Pages  160-173 


CHAPTER    X. 

DEPUTY  CHIEF  JOHN  T.  BROWN. — HIS  EARLY  CAREER  IN  THE 
WAR  AND  CIVIL  LIFE. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  FORCE. — CAPTAIN 
OF  THE  SECOND  STATION. — PROMOTED  TO  DEPUTY  CHIEF. — 
DECLINES  ELECTION  AS  CHIEF. — HIS  VARIOUS  DUTIES. — THE 
FORCE  NOW  AND  WHEN  HE  BECAME  A  MEMBER. — THE  LAW 
TOO  LENIENT  FOR  HABITUAL  CRIMINALS. — CAPTAIN  WINSHIP. 
— HOW    HE    SAVED    AN   OLD    MAN'S    LIFE. — LETTERS    OF    THE 

LATE  MAYOR  DOYLE Pages  174-186 


CHAPTER  XI, 

PROPERTY  CLERK  BLANDING. — SERVICE  IN  THE  ARMY  AND 
NAVY. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  FORCE. — A  TRAMP  ROBS  THE  CEN- 
TRAL POLICE  STATION. — DESPERATE  STRUGGLE  WITH  RUF- 
FIANS.— DUTIES  OF  THE  PROPERTY  CLERK. — SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  HACKS  NORCROSS  AND  THE  VETERAN  SOLDIERS. — PROMPT 
CAPTURE  OF  THIEVES. — CLERK  OF  POLICE  HORTON. — THE  COM- 
ICAL SIDE  OF  A  policeman's  LIFE.  — "  JUST  THE  MAN  I  WAS 
LOOKING  for!" — "WAIT  TILL  I  GET  MY  MITTENS." — AWN- 
INGS  ON  MY  BEAT." — A  CANDIDATE   FOR   POLICE  HONORS  WHO 

SOON  GOT  TIRED Pages  187-202 

CHAPTER    XII, 

ACTING  POLICE  SURGEON  PALMER.- — CHIEF  GROSS  SAW  THE  NEED 
OP   A   REGULAR    SURGEON. — THE   OFFICER   WHO    WAS    FLYING 


CONTENTS.  XI 

KITES. — HOW  THE  CITY  HAS  BEEN  A  GAINER. — MUCH  LESS 
SICKNESS  WITH  A  LARGE  FORCE.  — "  NOMINAL  SICKNESS." — 
A  SUPPLEMENTARY  POLICE  FORCE  SUGGESTED.  —  SERGEANT 
THOMAS   D.   TOPLIFF. — OFFICER    JOHN    B.   LIVSEY. — WARRANT 

OFFICERS  JONES  AND  LONG Pages  203-210 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  DETECTIVE  BUREAU. — NOTORIOUS  CRIMINALS  WHO  HAVB 
COME  TO  GRIEF  IN  PROVIDENCE. — DETECTIVE  SWAN. — HOW 
HE  BAFFLED  A  MOB  OF  BOUNTY-JUMPERS. — A  DESERTER  NOT 
BORN  TO  IBE   SHOT. — ARREST  AND  DEATH  OF  CHARLEY  MOWRY. 

DETECTIVE  PARKER. — THE  FIRST  SOLDIER  TO  MEET  GENERAL 

SHERIDAN  ON  HIS  FAMOUS  RIDE. — A  CAPTURED  BURGLAR  LOSES 
HIS  SPEECH  THROUGH  FEAR. — BRINGING  A  LICENTIOUS  SCOUN- 
DREL TO  THE  PUBLIC  PILLORY. — EX-SERGEANT  MURRAY. — A 
RECORD   OF   EFFICIENT   AND   COURAGEOUS   SERVICE. 

Pages  211-226 
CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  FIRST  POLICE  PRECINCT. — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CENTRAL 
STATION. — CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  H.  CORY. — FROM  TYPE-SETTER 
TO  POLICEMAN. — THE  ROCCO  VOTTA  MURDER. — VALUABLE  SER- 
VICES OF  HENRY  C.  SALANDRI. — LIEUTENANT  EUGENE  STEVENS. 

THE     CAPTURE     OF     A    WOULD-BE     ASSASSIN. — LIEUTENANT 

FREDERICK   A.    RANKIN. — ADVANTAGES    OP   HAVING   A   POLICE 

MATRON. — DUTIES    OF   A   DAY  SERGEANT   AT   THE   CENTRAL. 

SERGEANT  CONSTANT  S.  HORTON. — A  DANGEROUS  ENCOUNTER. 
— SERGEANT  JOSEPH  R.  BOSS. — ARREST  OF  A  FRAUDULENT 
VOTER. — TAKING  IN   A   PRIZE-FIGHTER.    .   .    .    PagCS  227-251 

CHAPTER    XV. 

CAPTAIN  EGAN'S  EARLY  PATRIOTISM. — ENLISTING  AT  FIFTEEN 
YEARS  OF  AGE.  —  PROMOTED  TO  SERGEANT  WHILE  IN  HIS 
TEENS. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  POLICE  FORCE. — SENT  WITH  FIVB 


XU  CONTENTS. 

OTHER  PICKED  OFFICERS  TO  WORCESTER. — ASSIGNED  TO 
FEDERAL  HILL,  HE  PROVES  HIS  METAL.  —  PROMOTED  TO 
ROUNDSMAN,  THEN  TO  SERGEANT  AND  CAPTAIN. — HE  MAKES 
THE  THIRD  A  MODEL  DISTRICT. — SOME  IMPORTANT  ARRESTS. 
— A  GYMNASIUM  EQUIPPED. — CAPTAIN  EGAN  INSTRUMENTAL 
IN  ORIGINATING  THE  POLICE  BALL. — COMPLIMENTED  BY  AT- 
TORNEY-GENERAL ROGERS. — LIEUTENANT  EDWARD  o'NEIL. — 
AN  HONORABLE  ARMY  RECORD. — SEVERELY  WOUNDED  AT  FAIR 
OAKS. — NUMEROUS  IMPORTANT  ARRESTS. — THE  FREAKS  OP 
CHARLEY  SMITH. —A  SADDENING  SPECTACLE.  —  SERGEANT 
ALBERT  F.  MOWRY. — NOTABLE  ARREST  BY  OFFICER  E.  J. 
SMITH. — THE   SECOND    STATION   DESCRIBED  .       Pages  252-274 

OBAFTUR  XVI. 

CAPTAIN  COSTINE'S  SERVICE  UNDER  GENERAL  CUSTER. — ^WITH 
SHERIDAN  AS  COLOR-BEARER  IN  THE  VALLEY. — PRESENTED 
WITH  A  SWORD  BY  HIS  COMRADES. — HE  JOINS  THE  POLICE 
FORCE.  —  MERITED  PROMOTIONS. — ARREST  AND  CONFESSION 
OF  A  WIFE-KILLER.  —  THE  YOUTH  WITH  THE  COVERED  BAS- 
KET.— EXCELLENT  SERVICE  IN  THE  FIFTH  DISTRICT. — TRANS- 
FERRED TO  THE  THIRD.  —  LIEUTENANT  GEORGE  H.  DARYo  — 
HE  FOILS  A  PLOT  TO  SEIZE  THE  CITY'S  LANDS. — ^AIDING  IN 
THE  ARREST  OF  DUNMUNW AY.— -SERGEANT  WILLIAM  H.  LAW- 
RENCE.— A  RECORD  OF  FAITHFUL  PERFORMANCE  OF  DUTY. — 
THE  THIRD   STATION   AND   PRECINCT   .      .      .      Pages  276-289 

CRAP  TUB    XVII. 

THE  LATE  SERGEANT  SIMEON  SHERMAN. — THE  LATE  CAPTAIN 
WARNER. — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FOURTH  STATION. — CAPTAIN 
JOSEPH  MARSTON.  —  SENT  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  BOSTON  IN 
FLAMES. — EFFICIENT  SERVICE  IN  THE  BUTLER  HOSPITAL. — 
THE  INSANE  CONFEDERATE  OF  "BRISTOL  BILL.'* — CAPTAIN 
MARSTON  AT  THE  CENTRAL  STATION.  —  IMPORTANT  DUTIES 
DEVOLVING  ON  THE  COMMANDER  OF  THAT  PRECINCT. — IM- 
PROVEMENT   IN     THE     MANNER    OF    ARRESTS. — LIEUTENANT 


CONTENTS.  XIU 

MAGILL. — FAITHFUL  AND  FEARLESS  SERVICE  IN  THE  OLNE-B^ 
VILLE  DISTRICT. — A  LONG  STRUGGLE  TO  PUT  DOWN  RUFFIAN- 
ISM.— SERGEANT  FRANK  A.  MATTHEWS. — BRAVELY  RESISTING 
THE  RESCUE  OF  A  PRISONER. — OFFICER  JAMES  L.  SHERMAN 

Pages  290-304 
CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE  FIFTH  THE  MODEL  POLICE-STATION  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. — 
CAPTAIN  BENJAMIN  F.  PAYNE.  —  ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  MAD- 
DENED YOUNG  GIANT. — CAPTAIN  PAYNE'S  REASONS  FOR  ADVO- 
CATING PHYSICAL  EXERCISE. — A  GYMNASIUM  ESTABLISHED  AT 
THE  SECOND  STATION. — THE  ATTEMPTED  ROBBERY  OF  THE 
GENEVA  MILLS  IN  1882. — MR.  ULMANN'S  BOLD  CAPTURE  OP 
THE  ROBBER.  —  CAPTAIN  PAYNE  DETECTS  HIS  DISGUISE. — 
LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  H.  LEAVITT. — ARRESTING  A  DESPER- 
ADO.— -A  POPULAR  AND  EFFICIENT  OFFICER. — SERGEANT  BEN- 
JAMIN  T.    WHITE. — ^A  COLORED   PLUNDERER'S  QUEER  METHOD 

OF  ROBBERY  c     .     .     o Pages  305-321 

OE AFTER    XIX, 

THE  SIXTH  STATION  A  TEMPORARY  HABITATION. — CAPTAIN  REU- 
BEN R.  BAKER. — FROM  CABIN-BOY  TO  CAPTAIN  WHILE  YET  A 
YOUTH. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  POLICE  FORCE. — ARREST  OF  THE 
WOULD-BE  MURDERER  OF  A  DAUGHTER. — A  FORTUNATE  RESCUE 
IN  THE  DARK. — INTERESTING  INCIDENT  OF  THE  CAPTAIN'S 
EXPERIENCE. — THE  SUSPECTED  DIGGERS  FOR  HIDDEN  WEALTH. 
SKETCH  OF  LIEUTENANT  SCOTT. — CAPTURE  OF  A  COUNTER- 
FEITER.  SERGEANT  GEORGE  CRANE,  JR. — PERILOUS  ENCOUN- 
TERS WITH  REFRACTORY  PRISONERS. — THE  ASSAULT  ON  PA- 
TROLMAN GROVER c     Pages  322-337 

CHAPTER    XX. 

SOME  INCIDENTS  OF  POLICE  EXPERIENCE. — THE  BEST  OFFICER  IS 
HE  WHO  PREVENTS  CRIME. — A  POLICEMAN'S  DESPERATE  EN- 
COUNTER  WITH    A   MADMAN. — THE    MURDER   OF  JOHN  C.   RO- 


XIY  CONTENTS. 

VBLTO. — ^THB  BLOW  THAT  NEARLY  KILLED  OFFICER  GEORGE 
W.  BOWEN. — O'HARE  KILLED  BY  PATROLMAN  TYLER  IN  SELF- 
DEFENCE. — OFFICER  TRACY'S  CAPTURE  OF  HIGHWAY  ROBBER 
JOHN  CONNOLLY.  —  MOUNTED  OFFICER  BRADBURY  AND  HIS 
HANDSOME  "BESS." — A  LONG  CHASE  AFTER  FUGITIVE  THIEVES. 
— PATROLMAN  MADDEN  AND  THE  NORTH  END  RUFFIANS. — OF- 
FICER WILLIAM  GARDINER. — WHEN  NAHUM  WILLARD  WAS  ON 
THE  OLD  WATCH.  —  VETERAN  OFFICERS  CHARLES  B.  BAIRD, 
JOSEPH  B.  CURTIS,  DANIEL  T.  COLWELL,  VARNUM  FULLER, 
HIRAM  HART  AND  JAMES  H.  WILBUR. — CAPTAIN  SANDERS  AND 
THE   OLD    WATCH. — EX-CAPTAIN    NEWHALL. — OTHER    RETIRED 

OFFICERS. Pages  338-349 

CHAPTER    XXI, 

THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  GOOD  WORK  IT  HAS 
DONE. — MAYOR  DOYLE  AND  THE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  ASSOCIA- 
TION CHARTERED  AND  ORGANIZED. — GRADUAL  INCREASE  IN 
THE  AMOUNT  OF  BENEFITS. — NO  CARPING  TECHNICALITY  IN 
THE  EXTENSION  OF  AID. — THE  LIBERALITY  OF  PRIVATE  CITI- 
ZENS.— PAST  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  PRESIDENT, 
VICE-PRESIDENT,  TREASURER,  SECRETARY  AND  DIRECTORS  FOR 

1888 Pages  350-360 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

WILLIAM  GODDARD  THE  FIRST  REPORTER  OF  POLICE  EVENTS. — 
A  BOSTON  EXECUTION  IN  1745. — WHIPPING  AT  A  CART'S  TAIL 
IN  PROVIDENCE. — RELATIONS  BETWEEN  REPORTERS  AND  THE 
POLICE.  —  REMINISCENCES  IN  A  SERIOUS  AND  A  COMICAL 
VEIN.  —  HOW  TWO  "UNDERTAKERS'  ASSISTANTS"  GOT  THE 
NBWS. — ^A  FAITHLESS    REPORTER   BITTEN      .      Pages  361-373 

CHAPTER    XXIII, 

THE  EARLY  CODE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  COMPARATIVELY  MILD. — 
AGITATION  FOR  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  PILLORY  AND  WHIP- 
PING-POST.— HORRIBLE   SPECTACLES  IN   PROVIDENCE    STREETS 


CONTENTS.  XV 

SIXTY  YEARS  AGO. — EXECUTION  OF  MINER  AND  BROWN. — A 
CITIZEN  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  HANGED,  DRAWN  AND  QUARTERED 
FOR  TREASON  IN  CANADA.— THE  TRIAL  OF  JOHN  GORDON  FOR 
THE  MURDER  OF  AMASA  SPRAGUE. — PROBABILITIES  AS  TO  GOR- 
DON'S GUILT  OR  INNOCENCE. — HIS  EXECUTION. 

Pages  374-382 
CHAPTER    XXIV. 

AGITATION  FOR  THE  ABOLITION  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. — NO 
EXECUTIONS  AFTER  THAT  OF  GORDON. — WHAT  HAS  BEEN  THE 
EFFECT  OF  ABOLITION  IN  RHODE  ISLAND?  —  FATE  OF  MUR- 
DERERS IN  THE  RHODE  ISLAND  STATE  PRISON.  —  DOOM  TO 
LIFE  IMPRISONMENT  HAS  A  FATAL  INFLUENCE.  —  SPEEDY 
DEATH  OF  A  NUMBER  SO  SENTENCED. — OTHERS  MARCH  ON 
TO  OLD  AGE  AND  IMBECILITY — INTERVIEW  WITH  A  LIFE  PRIS- 
ONER, ROBERT  CROWE. — THE  SAME  IGNOMINY  DOES  NOT  AT- 
TACH TO  RELATIVES. — ABSENCE  OF  FLOWERS  AND  FLUM- 
MERY  Pages  383-388 

CRAP  TUB    XXV. 

A 

THRILLING    AND    UNWRITTEN    INCIDENT    IN    HIS    HISTORY. 

'^I  WILL  WRITE  HIM  ANOTHER  LETTER." — DRIVEN  MAD  BY 
PEAR    OF    "BRISTOL    BILL. — THE    SPRAGUES    AND   JIM    EDGER- 

TON. — HOW  EDGERTON  CAME  TO  BE  CONVICTED  OF  PERJURY. 

JAMES  HAZARD,  THE  COLORED  RECEIVER. — HIS  LONG  STRUG- 
GLE AGAINST  THE  LAW. — DR.  TAZANT,  THE  COUNTERFEITER, — 
A  BRILLIANT  EXPLOIT  OF  DETECTIVE  SWAN. — THE  DETECTIVE 
CAUGHT  IN  A  COAL-SHUTE — A  PROMPT  ARREST  OF  BURGLARS. 

Pages  389-399 
CHAPTER    XXVI. 

EX-SERGEANT  FREDERICK  W.  PERRY. — HIS  FIGHT  FOR  LIFE 
TWENTY-THREE  YEARS  AGO. — AN  HONORABLE  RECORD. — THE 
MURDER   OF   JOSEPH    G.    CLARK,    AT   WORCESTER. — A  WOMAN'S 


im  CONTENTS. 

JBALOUSY  DETECTS  THE  CRIMINALS. — ARREST  OF  SILAS  AND 
BSCAPE  OF  CHARLES  JAMES. — FROM  WOONSOCKET  TO  PROVI- 
DENCE IN  SIXTY-FIVE  MINUTES. — ARREST  OF  CHARLES  JAMES 
IN  OLNEYVILLE. — CONVICTION   AND   EXECUTION. 

Pages  400-405 
CHAPTER    XXVII, 

fHB  MURDER  OF  GEORGE  H.  FAVOR. — A  CRIME  UNSURPASSED 
IN  ATROCITY. — DISAPPEARANCE  OF  MR.  FAVOR. — PATRICK  F. 
DENNEHY'S  story  to  MR.  KING. — DISAPPEARANCE  OP  DEN- 
NEHY.— "MY  FIRST  ATTEMPT  TO  MAKE  A  KEY  TO  FIT." — A 
LETTER  CONFESSING  TO  ROBBERY. — HORaiBLE  DISCOVERY  IN 
THB  CELLAR  OF  FAVOR'S  ESTABLISHMENT. — THE  PURSUIT  OF 
DENNEHY. — SKETCH  OF  DETECTIVE  JOHNSON. — HE  CAPTURES 
DBNNEHY  IN  CANADA. — THE  MURDERER'S  TROUBLED  REST. — 
THE  SHOES  AND  STUDS  OF  THE  VICTIM  IN  HIS  POSSESSION. — 
CRIAL  AND  CONVICTION. — DID  HE  MEDITATE  ANOTHER  CRIME  ? 

Pages  406-412 
CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

LITTLE  CARL  ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  SPREE. — IN  AMERICA. — 
LEARNING  TO  ENGRAVE. — IN  LOVE  WITH  CLARA.  BECHTEL. — 
AN  OMNIOUS  WISH. — THE  FIRST  CRIME. — ROBBING  THE  BAL- 
TIMORE    THIRD     NATIONAL     BANK     VAULT. — IN     A     TURKISH 

PRISON. — THE  ESCAPE  AND  THE  MURDER  OF  MRS.  CHAPMAN. 

SWINDLING  THE  UNION  TRUST  COMPANY. — A  SCHEME  TO  DE- 
FRAUD THE  EUROPEAN  CONTINENT. — THE  1,000  FRANC  NOTE 
FORGERY. — FOR     NEARLY     SIX    YEARS     A     PRISONER. — "  YES, 

PET,  I'll  try  TO  BE  GOOD." Pages  413-436 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

IHB  HISTORY  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OP  BROCKWAY'S  GANG  OP 
FORGERS  IN  BALTIMORE  IN  1880. — REMARKABLE  CONSPIRACY 
TO    ROB    THB    CITY'S    GREAT     BANKING    INSTITUTIONS. — THB 


CONTENTS.  '  XVI 1 

SWINDLERS  GET  AWAY  WITH  MORE  THAN  $10,000  FROM  TWO 
BANKS. — PURSUIT    AND    CAPTURE    OF    THE    CRIMINALS. — THE 

FORGERS  IN  PRISON  AT  LAST Pages  437-45T 


CE AFTER    XXX.  i 

BROCKWAY'S  PLAN  TO  DEFRAUD  PROVIDENCE  BANKS. — ULRICH 
AGREES  TO  FORGE  THE  CHECKS. — PLAN  ARRANGED  TO  DETECT 
THE  FORGERS. — THEIR  VISITS  TO  HENRY  C.  CRANSTON  AND 
CHACE,  WATSON  A  BUTTS. — PROVIDENCE  DETECTIVES  ON  THE 
QUI  VIVE. — "  IS  YOUR  NAME  JOSEPH  COOK  ?" — PARKER  TAKES 
HIS   MAN  AT  THE   FOURTH  NATIONAL. — BROCKWAY  ARRESTED. 

— HE   THOUGHT    THERE   MUST  BE  SOME   MISTAKE SO  THERE 

WAS. — A  RACE  IN  THE   HEART  OF  THE  CITY. — CAGED  AT  LAST. 

Pages  458-461 
CHAPTER    XXXI. 

JAMES  DUNMUNWAY. — AN  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WORST  WESTERN 
TYPE. — A  LAWYER  GO-BETWEEN  FOR  BURGLARS. — DUNMUNWAY 
ROBS  THE  ATHEN^UM.  —  OFFICER  DUTY  GREENE  DETECTS 
BURGLARS  IN  THE  STORE  OF  F.  A.  PAIGE  A  CO. — THE  PLACE 
SURROUNDED  BY  POLICE. — CAPTURE  OF  THE  ROBBERS. — THE 
MYSTERY  OF  THE  ATHENiEUM  BURGLARY  UNVEILED. — DUN- 
MUNWAY'S  DISTASTE  FOR  PHOTOGRAPHY. — HIS  ASSAULT  ON  A 
FELLOW-CONVICT. — DOGGED  RESISTANCE  TO  PRISON  DISCIP- 
LINE.— IN  A  DARK  CELL  FOR  YEARS. — A  CALM  DEATH-BED 
SCENE. — SOME  FACTS  OF  HIS  MURDEROUS  HISTORY. — SAID  TO 
HAVE  KILLED  TWELVE  MEN. — FORTUNATE  ARREST  OF  A  NEW- 
PORT BURGLAR Pages  462-468 

CHAPTER   XXXII. 

BANK  ROBBERIES. — HOW  THE  OLD  MERCHANTS'  BANK  WAS 
PLUNDERED  OF  $100,000. — THE  ROBBERY  OF  THE  TRADERS* 
BANK. — IT   WAS   PROBABLY   DONE   FROM  THE  INSIDE. — MAJOR 


XVIU  CONTENTS. 

*^  BNQLEY'S  conspiracy.  —  HIS  PLOT  TO  DEFRAUD  THE  MER- 
CHANTS* UNION  EXPRESS  COMPANY  OUT  OF  $300,000. — THB 
STORY  AS  TOLD  TO  THE  EDITOR  BY  QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL 
DENNIS. — THE  KEYS  THAT  FAILED  TO  FIT. — THB  POLICE  ON 
THE  WATCH. — MAJOR  ENGLEY  ARRESTED. — HE  PLEADS  GUILTY 

AND  IS  SENTENCED  TO  IMPRISONMENT     .     .     Pages  469-476 
CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE  ESSENTIAL  CRUELTY  OF  PROFESSIONAL  BURGLARY. — HOW 
MR.  LINKE  WAS  ROBBED  OF  THE  SAVINGS  OF  A  LIFE-TIME. — 
A  BOLD  OUTRAGE  IN  THE  VERY  HEART  OF  THE  CITY. — ^TWO 
NOTORIOUS  CRIMINALS  SUSPECTED  OF  THE  BURGLARY. — FATE 
OF  "BILLY  porter"  AND  "JOHNNY  IRVING." — "MOTHER 
MANDELBAUM." — HER  CAREER  AS  A  RECEIVER  OF  STOLEN 
GOODS. — DRIVEN  TO  CANADA  AT  LAST. — BRAVING  ARREST  TO 
ATTEND  HER   DAUGHTER'S   FUNERAL   .      .      .      Pages  477-484 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

THE  MURDER  OF  WATERMAN  IRONS. — A  CREDITABLE  PIECE  OF 
DETECTIVE  WORK.— AN  AGED  MERCHANT  DONE  TO  DEATH  IN 
HIS  SHOP. — ON  THE  TRACK  OF  THE  CRIMINALS. — ONE  OF  THEM 
CAPTURED. — REPORTED  CONFESSION  OF  THE  OTHER. — A  NET 
OF  CIRCUMSTANTIAL  EVIDENCE  THAT  COULD  NOT  BE  BROKEN. 
— ^WHAT  MRS.  ADELINE  ANGELL  SAW. — CONVICTION  OF  DENNIS 

MURPHY Pages  485-494 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

PROVIDENCE  AN  UNLUCKY  CITY  FOR  BANK  DEFAULTERS. — BROUGHT 
TO  PUNISHMENT  IN  NEARLY  ALL  DETECTED  INSTANCES. — THE 
CASE  OF  CHARLES  A.  PITCHER. — SUCH  INSTANCES  SHOULD  NOT 
REFLECT  ON  BANK  EMPLOYES  IN  GENERAL. — PITCHER'S  EIGH- 
TEEN YEARS  OF  HONORABLE  SERVICE. — HE  GIVES  WAY  TO 
TEMPTATION. — ROBS  THE  UNION  BANK  OF  NEARLY  $700,000. — 
CAPTURED  IN  CANADA  THROUGH  THE  PROMPT  ACTION  OF  THB 
PROVIDENCE  POLICE. — HIS  EXAMINATION,  TRIAL  AND  CONVIC- 
TION.— A   WHOLESOME   EXAMPLE. — "OUR   POLICE." 

Pages  495-504 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Frontispiece 

The  Ducking-Stool 21 

The  Pillory  and  Whipping-Post 27 

Old  Watchman 31 

Thomas  Arthur  Doyle,  Ex-Mayor 59 

Gen.  Nelson  Viall,  Ex-Chief  of  PoUce 67 

Albert  Sanford,  Ex-Chief  of  Police 71 

John  M.Knowles,  Ex-Chief  of  Police 75 

Charles  H.  Hunt,  E;c-Chief  of  Police 83 

William  S.  Hayward,  Ex-Mayor 93 

Gilbert  F.  Bobbins 99 

Charles  F.  Sampson,  Alderman 103 

Henry  C.  Armstrong,  Alderman 107 

Charles  Dake  Eogers,  Alderman Ill 

Fergus  J.  McOsker,  Alderman 115 

Edward  G.  Burrows,  Alderman 119 

Robert  E.  Smith,  Alderman 123 

Edwin  Lowe,  Alderman,  Chairman  Police  Committee 129 

Henry  T.  Root,  Alderman 133 

Benjamin  E.  Kinsley,  Alderman,  Member  Police  Committee 139 

John  Casey,  Alderman 147 

Henry  V.  A.  Joslin,  aty  Oerk 155 

Benjamin  H.  Child,  Chief  of  Police 163 

George  W.  Walling,  Ex-Superintendent  New  York  Police 167 

John  T.Brown,  Deputy  Chief  of  Police 177 

Augustus  J.  Winship,  Captain  of  Police  (City  Paymaster) 181 

Stephen  F.  Blanding,  Property  Clerk 189 

George  H.  Norcross,  Superintendent  of  Hacks 193 

Seth  L.  Horton,  Clerk  to  Chief 197 

T.  D.  Topliff,  Sergeant  City  Hall 205 

Rogues'  Gallery 213 

William  H.  Cory,  Captain First  District 233 

(xix) 


XX  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FAOB 

Eugene  Stevens,  Lieutenant «. First  District 237 

Frederick  A.  Rankin,  Lieutenant First  District „ 241 

Constants.  Horton,  Sergeant First  District 245 

Joseph  R.  Boss,  Sergeant Second  District 249 

Patrick  Egan,  Captain Second  District 255 

Edward  O'Neil,  Lieutenant Second  District 263 

Albert  F.  Mowry,  Sergeant First  District 271 

Jeremiah  Costine,  Captain Third  District 277 

George  H.  Dary,  Lieutenant Third  District 281 

William  H.  Lawrence,  Sergeant Third  District 285 

Joseph  Marston,  Captain Fourth  District 291 

P.  J.  Magill,  Lieutenant.. Fourth  District 297 

Frank  A.  Matthews,  Sergeant Fourth  District 301 

Benjamin  F.  Payne,  Captain „ Fifth  District 307 

William  H.  Leavitt,  Lieutenant Fifth  District 315 

Benjamin  T.  White,  Sergeant Fifth  District 319 

Reuben  R.  Baker,  Captain Sixth  District 325 

James  P.  Scott,  Lieutenant Sixth  District 331 

William  H.  Rowe,  Sergeant Sixth  District 335 

Richard  A.  Clark,  President  Providence  Police  Association 351 

Hartley  W.  Brown,  Vice-President  Providence  Police  Association 355 

Silas  L.  W.  Merrill,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

Frank  M.  Miller,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

John  F.  Muldoon,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

Wm.  A.  Monro,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

William  Bradbury,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

Joseph  A.  Wyman,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 359 

George  H.  Norcross,  Director  Providence  Police  Association 193,  359 

Alfred  M.  Williams 366 

J.  Crawford  Potter 393 

Bank  Burglars'  Outfit 421 


UUK    POLICE.  IT 


CHAPTER    J.         :     .—     •  :'V^j; 

ROGER  WILLIAMS  A  CHAMPION  OF  ORDER. — PROVIDENCE  WITHOUT 
WATCHMEN  OR  CONSTABLES. — GOVERNMENT  BY  ARBITRATION 
A  FAILURE. — THE  RHODE  ISLAND  CODE  OF  1647. — A  HERO 
IMPRISONED  FOR  DEBT. — THE  TOWN  OF  PROVIDENCE  RECEIVES 
A  CHARTER. — THE  FIRST  TOWN  SERGEANT. — PROVIDENCE  AND 
WARWICK  REQUIRED  TO  ERECT  A  PRISON. — CRUEL  PUNISH- 
MENTS INFLICTED  ON  MALEFACTORS. — THE  CROPPED  AND 
BRANDED  THIEVES  A  TRAVELING  ROGUES '  GALLERY. 

The  Father  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  was 
not  less  sincere  and  decided  in  the  assertion  that  the  civil  govern- 
ment must  be  obeyed  in  civil  things  than  in  his  world-famed 
doctrine  of  soul  independence.  To  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  that  age,  in  continents  new  and  old,  such  teaching  was 
incomprehensible.  The  man  who  thought  for  himself,  and  wor- 
shipped as  he  dared  to  think — if  his  worship  was  not  in  accord 
with  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  State — was  as  much  an  offender 
as  the  man  who  presumed  to  be  a  law  unto  himself  in  matters 
purely  of  a  secular  sort.  State  and  Church  were  one,  and  he 
who  neglected  or  refused  to  bow  to  the  Church,  promptly  felt  the 
iron  grip  of  the  State.  In  this  fundamental  view  of  human 
duties  and  obligations,  the  bishops  of  York  and  of  London  were 
not  more  impregnable  than  the  brethren  of  Hartford  and  Boston. 
The  Puritans  did  not  endure  the  dangers  of  unknown  seas,  in 
order  that  others  might  worship  in  freedom  and  in  peace,  but 
that  they  might  worship  as  they  pleased  themselves ;  and  to  the 
Puritan,  as  to  the  churchman,  liberty  of  conscience  was  a  doc- 
trine as  foreign  as  communion  of  property. 

With  all  the  more  emphasis,  therefore,  did  Roger  Williams 
proclaim  that,  in  advocating  the  right  of  thought  to  soar,  and  of 
conscience  to  guide,  he  did  not  mean  the  rupture  of  those  civil 
ties  which  the  experience-of  ages  have  proven  to  be  indispensable 


18  OUR    POLICE. 

to  the  well-being  of  society ;  he  did  not  mean  chaos,  but  order — 
order  made  ^W  the  more  dignified,  perfect  and  harmonious  by  the 
elinliXiatiaii  r  of  that  bigotry  which  had  plunged  the  world  in 
jdisorder  and  .bloodshed,  which  kept  the  fagots  of  Smithfield  bum- 
iitgl  abd.  supplied' the  victims  for  the  auto  dafe.  Every  publica- 
tion of  the  Founder,  therefore,  emphasized  that  in  civil  affairs 
the  government  was  supreme.  The  first  step  of  Roger  Williams 
and  his  associates  was  to  establish  an  orderly  commonwealth,  the 
townsmen  agreeing  to  be  subject  "  to  the  orders  made  for  the 
public  good  of  the  body,  *  *  *  i^y  ^j^g  major  assent  of  the 
present  inhabitants,  masters  of  families  incorporated  together  into 
a  town  fellowship,  and  such  others  as  they  shall  admit  unto  them 
only  in  civil  things."  In  this  simple  compact  we  find  the  kernel 
of  Rhode  Island  institutions,  and  from  that  day  to  this  civil 
order  and  religious  freedom  have  gone  hand  in  hand  within 
Rhode  Island  bounds. 

The  Plantations  appear  to  have  got  along  without  any  provi- 
sion for  a  police  force  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  settlement. 
Not  that  all  of  the  settlers  were  peaceably  inclined.  One  of  the 
original  proprietors,  Joshua  Verin,  is  described  by  Roger 
Williams  in  a  letter  as  a  "  boisterous  and  desperate  character." 
Verin  came  under  public  discipline,  shortly  after  the  settlement, 
for  interfering  with  his  wife's  attendance  upon  the  preaching  of 
Mr.  Williams.  He  removed  from  the  colony,  and  after  living 
for  a  time  in  Salem,  he  emigrated  to  the  Barbadoes.  He  has  no 
descendants  in  Rhode  Island.  The  will  of  the  townsmen,  as 
expressed  in  their  public  meetings,  sufficed  to  deal  with  cases  like 
that  of  Verin,  and  while  the  growing  colony  of  Newport,  in  1638, 
was  erecting  the  stocks  and  the  whipping  post.  Providence,  more 
secluded  from  the  ocean  pathway,  and  its  human  jetsam  and  flot- 
sam, was  as  yet  able  to  maintain  the  peace,  and  vindicate  local 
authority,  without  those  haggard  adjuncts  of  seventeenth  century 
civilization.  In  1640,  however,  the  people  of  Providence  found 
it  necessary  to  depute  to  certain  of  their  members  the  power  and 
duty  of  looking  after  offenders  and  of  enforcing  the  simple  laws. 
The  colonists  then  agreed  to  appoint  five  disposers,  whose  duty  it 
should  be  to  divide  among  the  settlers  the  lands  acquired  from 


OUR   POLICE.  19 

the  Indians.  The  agreement  further  proyided  that  liberty  of 
conscience  should  still  be  maintained,  and  "  that,  after  many  con- 
siderations and  consultations  of  our  own  state,  and  also  of  states 
abroad  in  the  way  of  government,  we  apprehend  no  way  so  suit- 
able to  our  condition,  as  government  by  way  of  arbitration. 
But  if  men  agree  themselves  by  arbitration,  no  state  we  know  of 
disallows  of  that,  neither  do  we.  But  if  men  refuse  that  which 
is  but  common  humanity  between  man  and  man,  then  to  compel 
such  unreasonable  persons  to  a  reasonable  way,  we  agree  that  the 
five  disposers  shall  have  power  to  compel  him  either  to  choose 
two  men  himself,  or  if  he  refuse,  for  them  to  choose  two  men,  to 
arbitrate  his  cause,  and  if  these  four  men  chosen  by  each  party, 
do  end  the  cause,  then  to  see  their  determination  performed,  and 
the  faultive  to  pay  the  arbitrators  for  their  time  spent  in  it. 
But  if  these  four  men  do  not  end  it,  then  for  the  five  disposers  to 
choose  three  men  to  put  an  end  to  it."  It  was  further  provided 
that  the  major  part  of  the  disposers  might  choose  the  three  men, 
and  the  major  part  of  the  three  men  to  end  the  cause.  Prosecu- 
tion in  the  public  interest  was  also  provided  for  in  a  clause  to  the 
effect  that  the  disposers  might  act  upon  notice  given  by  any  per- 
son, in  the  event  that  the  person  injured  should  fail  to  make 
complaint.  "  Thus,  if  any  man  abuse  another  in  person  or  in 
goods,  may  be,  for  peace's  sake,  a  man  will,  for  the  present,  put 
it  up,  and,  it  may  be  so,  resolve  to  revenge ;  therefore,  for  the 
peace  of  the  state,  the  disposers  are  to  look  to  it  in  the  first 
place."  All  the  inhabitants  were  to  assist  in  the  pursuit  of  a 
delinquent,  "  but  if  any  man  raise  a  hubbub,  and  there  be  no 
just  cause,  then  for  the  party  who  raised  the  hubbub  to  satisfy 
men  for  their  time  lost  in  it."  Any  man  having  a  difference  with 
any  of  the  five  disposers  which  could  not  be  deferred  until  gen- 
eral town  meeting,  might  have  a  special  town  meeting  called 
through  the  town  clerk.  The  disposers  were  to  meet  "  every 
month  day  upon  general  things,  and  at  the  quarter  day  to  yield 
to  a  new  choice,  and  give  up  their  old  accounts."  Thus  a  town 
council  was  established,  in  fact,  although  not  in  name,  and  the 
whole  population  was  made  a  police  force,  all  being  required  to 
aid  in  the  execution  of  public  justice,  whereas  previously  such 


20  OUR   POLICE. 

aid  had  been  a  matter  of  choice,  and  often,  no  doubt,  of  neglect. 
This  system,  or  lack  of  system,  however,  was  far  from  being 
efficient,  and  presented  a  marked  contrast  to  the  strong  arm  and 
harsh  discipline  of  the  Massachusetts  theocracy.  The  little  col- 
ony had  a  feeble,  flickering  existence,  and  but  for  the  unquench- 
able zeal  and  energy  of  its  founder,  the  sapling  he  had  planted 
might  have  died,  ere  yet  it  was  rooted  in  the  soil. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  Providence  may  be  appreciated  from 
the  fact  that  the  year  after  the  above  constitution  was  adopted, 
thirteen  of  the  colonists — namely,  William  Field,  William  Har- 
ris, William  Carpenter,  William  Wickenden,  William  Reynolds, 
Thomas  Harris,  Thomas  Hopkins,  Hugh  Bewitt,  Joshua  Winsor, 
Benedict  Arnold,  William  Man,  William  W.  Hunkinges,  and 
Robert  R.  West — applied  for  protection  to  the  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  his  assistants.  They  represented  that  in  a  matter 
of  difference  with  Francis  Weston,  the  cause  had  been  submitted 
to  the  arbitration  of  eight  men,  orderly  chosen,  and  the  arbitra- 
tors had  decided  that  Weston  was  liable  to  pay  damages  in  cattle 
or  commodities.  When  the  complainants  went  to  attach  Weston's 
cattle  in  pursuance  of  the  judgment,  they  were  resisted  by  Wes- 
ton, Samuel  Gorton,  and  others,  "  and  some  few  drops  of  blood 
were  shed  on  either  side."  After  drawing  a  most  disheartening 
picture  of  affairs  in  the  colony,  the  petitioners  closed  by  appeal- 
ing "  of  gentle  courtesy,  and  for  the  preservation  of  humanity 
and  mankind,  for  a  helping  hand."  Whether  the  subsequent 
invasion  of  Warwick  and  seizure  of  Gorton  and  others  by  the 
Boston  Puritans  had  or  had  not  any  relation  to  this  appeal  it 
would  be  foreign  to  our  subject  to  discuss.  Making  all  due 
allowance  for  the  excited  frame  of  mind  of  the  petitioners,  it  is 
evident  that  arbitration,  as  a  method  of  enforcing  civil  and  crim- 
inal law,  was  not  successful  or  satisfactory. 

The  charter  of  1644  insured  the  permanence  of  the  colony, 
and  the  laws  of  1647  bear  evidence  that  the  people  of  the  new 
commonwealth  were  prepared  to  speak  and  act  with  a  full  sense 
of  their  position  among  the  infant  communities  of  America. 
Those  laws  are  tempered  throughout  with  the  true  spirit  of 
Rhode  Island.     *'  Otherwise,"  it  was  declared,  "  than  thus  what 


OUR    POLICE. 


21 


is  herein  forbidden,  all  men  may  walk  as  their  consciences  per- 
suade them,  every  one  in  the  name  of  his  God."  These  laws 
were  remarkably  free  from  cruelty  and  bloodshed,  the  number  of 
capital  crimes  being  very  few,  as  compared  with  England  and  the 
neighboring  colonies  of  New  England.  He  who  dealt  in  false 
weights  and  measures  was  to  sit,  for  the  third  offence,  in  the 
pillory.  The  common  scold  was  punished  with  the  ducking 
stool.  A  thief  was  to  be  severely  whipped;  for  the  second 
offence  branded  in  the  hand,  and  death  was  the  penalty  of  the 
third.     For  petty  treason,  such  as  the  killing  of  a  master  by  a 


THE  DUCKING-STOOL. 


servant,  a  father  or  mother  by  a  child,  the  offender  was,  if  a  man, 
to  be  drawn  and  hanged,  and  if  a  woman,  to  be  burned  alive. 
For  high  treason  death  was  also  the  penalty.  Forgery,  punished 
by  hanging  in  England  until  a  recent  period,  was  not  a  capital 
crime  under  this  Rhode  Island  code  of  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago.     The  debtor  giving  up  all  his  property  must  be 


22  OUR    POLICE. 

released  upon  obeying  the  order  of  the  magistrates.  "  He  shall  not 
be  sent  to  prison,  there  to  lie  languishing  to  no  man's  advantage, 
unless  he  refuses  to  appear  and  stand  by  their  order."  Yet,  not- 
withstanding this  humane  enactment,  Rhode  Island  afterward 
established  and  retained  imprisonment  for  debt  until  1870,  the 
writer  having  been  present,  as  a  reporter  for  the  Providence 
Journal,  in  the  General  Assembly  which  repealed  the  law,  and 
left  the  debtor,  guiltless  of  fraud,  free  to  labor  for  an  honest 
living  and  the  extinction  of  his  debt.  It  may  be  stated,  in 
parenthesis,  that  the  list  of  men  who  have  endured  imprisonment 
for  debt  in  this  State,  and  whose  names  are  to  be  found  in  the 
thumb-worn  records  of  the  old  jail,  might  surprise  a  good  many 
to-day.  Some  of  them  have  been,  some  of  them  are,  among  our 
respected  citizens.  They  lived  to  triumph,  not  over  poverty 
only,  but  over  the  ignominy  which  a  harsh  and  antiquated  statute 
attached  to  their  poverty.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  the 
Rhode  Island  hero,  Col.  Barton,  whose  capture  of  the  British 
General  Prescott  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  exploits  of  the 
War  for  Independence,  was  a  prisoner  for  debt  in  his  later  years, 
but  not  in  his  native  State.  To  Vermont  belongs  the  credit  or 
discredit  of  confining  the  hero,  whose  situation  evoked  the  touch- 
ing lines  of  Whittier,  beginning  : 

■•  "  What  hath  the  gray-haired  prisoner  done — 

Hath  murder  stained  his  hands  with  gore  ?" 

The  just  and  honest  spirit  prevailing  among  the  early  settlers 
was  shown  in  the  provision  of  1647,  that  "  No  person  be  employed 
in  any  service  for  the  public  administration  of  justice  upon  offend- 
ers, or  between  man  and  man,  without  good  encouragement  and 
due  satisfaction  from  the  public,  whether  out  of  the  common 
stock  or  out  of  the  stocks  of  others  that  have  occasioned  his  ser- 
vices." For  the  purposes  of  common  defence  every  man,  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seventeen  and  seventy,  was  required  to  keep  a 
bow  and  arrows,  and  to  exercise  with  them,  and  every  father  was 
required  to  furnish  his  son,  from  seven  to  seventeen  years  old, 
with  a  bow,  two  arrows,  and  shafts,  and  to  bring  them  up  to 
shooting.     A  court  of  Commissioners,  six  from  each  town,  were 


OUR   POLICE.  23 

appointed  to  try  cases,  having  cognizance  of  weighty  offences,  and 
also  acting  as  a  Court  of  Appeals.  The  town  courts  had  original 
jurisdiction  in  suits  among  their  own  citizens.  The  assistants 
were  conservators  of  the  peace  in  their  respective  towns,  and 
also  acted  as  coroners.  Each  town  was  given  the  power  of  licens- 
ing taverns  and  ale  houses,  and  the  head  officer — that  is,  the 
assistant — took  the  recognizance  of  each  licensed  person  with 
two  sureties  to  maintain  good  order.  Officials  were  jealously 
confined  within  the  bounds  of  delegated  authority.  "  No  person," 
declared  the  bill  of  rights,  "  shall,  but  at  his  great  peril,  presume 
to  bear  or  execute  any  office, — that  is  not  lawfully  called  or  con- 
firmed in  it ;  nor,  though  he  be  lawfully  called  and  confirmed,  pre- 
sume to  do  more  or  less  than  those  that  had  power  to  call  him,  did 
authorize  him  to  do."  This  code,  and  the  acts  and  orders  passed 
at  its  adoption,  constituted  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  colony 
while  the  charter  of  1644  remained  in  force.  The  alterations 
made  in  them  during  that  period  were  rather  formal  than  sub- 
stantial. "Their  spirit,"  wrote  Judge  Staples,"  remained  un- 
changed, and  has  been  infused  into  all  the  subsequent  legislation 
of  the  colony  and  State." 

In  1649  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  town  of  Providence  by 
the  General  Assembly,  with  authority  "  to  make  and  ordain  such 
givil  orders  and  constitutions,  to  inflict  such  punishments  upon 
transgressors,  and  for  execution  thereof,  and  of  the  common  stat- 
ute laws  of  the  colony  agreed  unto,  and  the  penalties,  and  so 
many  of  them,  as  are  not  annexed  already  unto  the  colony  Court 
of  Trials,  so  to  place  and  displace  officers  of  justice  as  they,  or  the 
greater  part  of  them,  shall,  by  one  consent,  agree  unto."  The 
officers  in  question  were  to  be  engaged  on  the  2d  day  of  June, 
annually.  The  first  choice  of  town  officers  was  in  1651,  when 
Hugh  Bewitt  was  chosen  Town  Sergeant.  The  little  town  may 
now  be  said  to  have  had  its  corporate  birth,  although  its  existence 
was  still  so  far  precarious  that  authority  was  granted  about  this 
period  to  erect  a  fort  on  Stampers'  Hill.  This  was  very  near  the 
heart  of  the  community  which  then  centred  about  the  upper  part 
of  North  Main  street.  Stampers  street,  according  to  an  old  story, 
takes  its  name  from  the  circumstance  that  the  settlers,  during  the 


24  .  OUR   POLICE. 

Indian  troubles,  frightened  away  a  band  of  savages,  who  were 
bent  on  destroying  the  town,  by  running  up  and  down  and 
"stamping"  with  their  feet,  so  as  to  make  the  Indians  think  that 
a  great  number  were  rushing  to  the  defence.  Such  at  least, 
according  to  the  recollection  of  the  writer,  was  the  statement  made 
many  years  ago,  when  it  was  proposed  to  change  the  name  of 
Stampers  street.  True  or  false,  the  tradition,  so  eloquent  of  the 
painful  struggles  of  the  fathers  of  these  plantations,  saved  the 
name  of  the  ancient  street. 

The  first  Town  Sergeant,  Hugh  Bewitt,  figures  conspicuously 
in  the  records  of  the  time.  He  was  evidently  no  common  man, 
and  between  the  lines  of  the  meagre  chronicle  can  be  read  the 
story  of  a  forceful,  resolute,  and  restless  nature.  Besides  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  tried  and  acquitted  of  treason,  he  served  the 
people  in  important  offices.  That  of  Town  Sergeant  could  not 
have  been  lucrative,  and,  among  the  mingled  elements  of  Rhode 
Island's  early  population,  must  have  been  arduous.  The  Town 
Sergeant  and  Constables  were  paid,  as  the  Town  Sergeant  and 
Constables  of  the  smaller  towns  are  paid  to-day,  principally  by 
fees  for  services  performed.  The  Town  Sergeant  also  received  a 
salary  compensation  in  the  form  of  a  tax  exacted  from  the  freemen 
of  the  town,  and  collected  by  himself  in  money  or  in  kind.  The 
record  of  this  tax  sets  forth  that  "  It  is  voated  by  ye  Towne  yt 
ye  sergeant  yt  shall  yearely  be  chosen  in  this  Towne  shall  be 
payd  by  each  freedman  in  ye  said  Towne,  one  shilling  in  mar- 
chantable  pay  per  yeare  and  if  any  doo  neglect  or  refuse  to  pay 
as  aforesaid,  ye  sergeant  making  his  return  to  ye  towne  of  ye 
names  of  ye  defective  persons,  ye  Town  doo  engage  to  cause  ye 
said  defective  persons  to  pay  ye  aforesaid  summ  to  ye  sergeant, 
any  order  to  the  contrary  heard  of  notwithstanding."  This 
compulsory  contribution  could  hardly  have  been  a  certain  or  sat- 
isfactory source  of  income,  and  the  Town  Sergeant  and  Constables 
must  have  mainly  depended  upon  their  own  exertions,  apart  from 
official  duties,  for  keeping  hunger  from  their  cabins. 

The  reader  has  but  to  cross  the  line  into  North  Providence,  or 
pursue  his  way  to  Smithfield  or  Glocester,  to  see  in  operation  the 
early  police  methods  of  the  town  of  Providence.      The  Town 


OUR    POLICE.  25 

Sergeant  follows  his  avocation  of  carpenter  or  farmer,  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  thus  obtains  his  livelihood.  He  has  a  fee  for  attend- 
ing the  town  meetings  and  preserving  order  there,  another  fee  for 
attending  meetings  of  the  town  council,  and  fees  for  arrests,  and 
for  the  care  of  prisoners.  When  his  services  are  required  on  any 
special  occasion,  he  is  sought  for  on  his  farm  or  in  his  shop; 
but  he  does  not  depend  upon  his  office  for  a  living.  In  small 
towns,  as  a  rule,  but  few  men  are  willing  to  accept  the  office,  and 
of  the  few  it  often  occurs  that  some  are  unfitted  and  undesirable. 
This  difficulty  appears  to  have  confronted  the  freemen  in  olden 
times  as  well  as  now,  for  in  1665  the  General  Assembly  enacted 
that  a  fine  of  five  pounds  sterling  should  be  imposed  upon  any 
one  refusing  to  serve  as  Town  Sergeant,  and  the  provision  was 
carried  along  in  all  succeeding  changes  of  the  statutes. 

This  system  was  not  as  ineffective  as  at  first  glance  it  might 
appear.  The  constables,  incited  by  the  hope  of  fees,  were  vigil- 
ant in  the  lookout  for  criminals,  and  every  respectable  citizen  felt 
a  personal  responsibility  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace. 
Assuredly  Providence  was  not  a  lawless  community  during  the 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  that  elapsed  between  the  set- 
tlement and  the  first  establishment  of  a  watch.  Rhode  Island 
had  vigilant  and  hostile  critics  in  the  neighboring  colonies,  but 
the  laxity  of  which  they  accused  her  was  only  as  to  religion,  and 
the  open  expression  of  religious  opinion.  It  is  nowhere  alleged, 
in  the  keenest  shafts  of  the  Bay  Colony's  writers  and  divines, 
that  life  and  property  were  not  as  secure  as  in  the  shadow  of  the 
elms  and  gallows  of  Boston  Common.  Even  to-day,  with  all  the 
added  ingenuity  of  crime,  we  see  Rhode  Island  towns  much  more 
numerously  populated  than  Providence  was  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  well-guarded  and  law-abiding  without  one  salaried  police- 
man. Every  substantial  resident  and  elector  who  wishes,  or  is 
willing,  to  be  a  Constable,  easily  obtains  •the  appointment,  and 
every  one  feels  that  he  has  a  personal  concern  in  the  prevention 
and  punishment  of  crime. 

Four  years  after  the  organization  of  a  town  government,  in 
1655,  we  find  Providence  and  Warwick  directed  to  unite  in  the 
erection  of  a  prison  at  Warwick  at  a  cost  of  £41,  of  which  ProT- 


26  OUR    POLICE. 

idence  was  required  to  pay  X6,  and  another  prison  at  Providence 
and  a  pair  of  stocks,  at  a  cost  of  £14.  Why  Providence  should 
have  been  required  to  build  a  prison  for  Warwick  does  not  appear, 
but  presumably  the  Warwick  jail  was  to  be  situated  conveniently 
for  occasional  use  by  Providence  offenders,  on  the  same  principle 
as  a  joint  school  district.  As  to  whether  these  prisons  were  built 
the  records  make  no  mention.  The  probability  is  that  some  pro- 
vision was  made  in  a  rude  way  for  the  detention  of  malefactors. 
In  1695  the  General  Assembly  ordered  a  prison  to  be  built  in 
Providence.  At  a  town  meeting  in  February  of  that  year,  the 
town  agreed  to  erect  it  "  near  the  water's  side,  next  Gideon  Craw- 
ford's warehouse."  Staples  says,  that  "judging  from  the  con- 
tentious spirit  manifested  in  their  town  meetings  one  cannot 
imagine  that  a  prison  of  these  dimensions  afforded  very  ample 
and  roomy  accommodations  for  such  a  community."  At  the 
April  town  meeting  the  town  voted  to  change  the  location,  but, 
the  record  relates,  "  while  the  matter  was  in  propagating  by  the 
town,  obstruction  was  made  by  Samuel  Windsor  against  the  same, 
thereby  raising  such  a  tumult  among  the  people  that  the  moder- 
ator was  put  upon  to  dissolve  the  meeting."  No  further  proceed- 
ings appear  in  the  matter  until  1698,  when  a  tax  of  <£30  was 
ordered  for  the  building  of  a  prison.  The  building,  unlike  some 
modem  structures,  was  completed  within  the  appropriation,  at  a 
cost  of  X21  17«.,  exclusive  of  the  locks.  The  prison  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  before  February,  1705,  and  a  new  one  erected  at 
the  expense  of  Joseph  Latham  and  John  Scott,  who  were  pre- 
sumably responsible  for  the  destruction  of  the  first  building. 
These  prisons  are  supposed  to  have  stood  near  the  head  of  Con- 
stitution Hill,  on  the  Benefit  street  side,  and  it  is  thought  that 
the  wretched  old  cabin,  familiar  to  Providence  eyes  as  presenting 
such  a  notable  contrast  to  other  buildings  in  that  locality,  is  a 
part  of  the  old  prison  of  1705.*  Tradition,  as  well  as  ancient 
plats,  point  this  cabin  out  as  "the  old  jail."  A  third  prison  was 
erected  in  1733  on  a  lot  purchased  from  William  Page  on  the 
north  side  of  the  road  leading  to  the  ferry  at  narrow  passage. 

*  The  old  relic  was  torn  down  a  few  weeks  ago. 


OUR    POLICE. 


27 


This  was  not  far  from  where  Benefit  street  now  crosses  Meeting 
street,  formerly  known  as  *^  Jail  lane."  The  fourth  prison  in 
Providence  was  erected  in  1753,  on  a  lot  of  land  granted  to  the 
Colony  by  the  proprietors  of  Providence,  adjoining  the  Cove. 


THE  PILLORY  AND  WHIPPING-POST. 

So  far  as  regarded  the  punishment  of  criminals  there  was  but 
little  use  for  prisons.  The  infliction  of  the  death  penalty  was 
rare  at  any  period  in  Providence,  but  the  stocks,  the  pillory,  the 
whipping-post,  the  branding  iron,  and  the  knife  were  in  frequent 
use,  especially  in  the  cases  of  confirmed  offenders.  Whippings 
have  occurred  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living,  and  many 
an  aged  Rhode  Islander  was  already  in  manhood's  years  when 
the  last  habitual  thief  had  his  ears  cropped.  Of  this  we  shall 
have  more  to  say  in  a  coming  chapter.  In  the  old  days  the  mu- 
tilation of  criminals  was  not  viewed  with  the  horror  that  the 
Delaware  whipping-post  excites  to-day.  The  art  of  photography 
was  unknown.  To  have  painted  a  criminal's  picture  was  im- 
practicable, and  his  ears  were  cropped,  or  he  was  branded  on  the 


28 


OUR    POLICE. 


face  or  hand,  not  so  much  to  punish  him  as  that  others  might 
beware  of  him.  The  cropped  and  branded  thieves  were  a  trav- 
eling rogues'  gallery,  at  the  same  time  a  warning  and  an  example 
to  their  fellow  men. 


OUK  POLICE.  29 


QEA  P  TEE    II. 

THE  TOWN  COUNCIL  AND  THE  CONSTABLES. — ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
A  NIGHT-WATCH. — RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  FOR  ITS  GOVERN- 
MENT.— THE  WATCH  TO  ABSTAIN  FROM  SPIRITUOUS  LIQUORS. 

CALLING  THE  HOUR  OF  MIDNIGHT. — A  VOLUNTEER  WATCH  ES- 
TABLISHED.— LIGHTS  FORBIDDEN  AT  UNREASONABLE  HOURS. 

LIBERATED  NEGROES  A  SOURCE  OF  TROUBLE. — THE  HARDSCRAB- 
BLE  AND  OLNEY'S  LANE  RIOTS. — DEADLY  ENCOUNTER  BETWEEN 
THE  MILITARY  AND  THE  MOB. 

The  town  council  always  maintained  a  complete  jurisdiction 
over  the  executive  officers  of  the  town.  The  constables,  either 
elected  in  town  meeting  or  by  the  council,  could  be  removed  by 
the  latter  at  will;  the  town  sergeant  was  the  mouth-piece  and 
executor  of  the  council's  authority,  and,  at  times  of  great  public 
peril,  the  council  sat  with  the  military  officers  to  decide  the  doom 
of  public  enemies  who  had  fallen  into  their  hands.  The  con- 
stables, with  the  sheriff  of  the  county  and  his  deputies,  the' latter, 
of  course,  not  subject  to  any  town  authority,  appear  to  have 
served  all  the  purposes  of  a  police  until  the  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution. During  the  Indian  wars  a  trained  band  had  been  estab- 
lished, for  the  military  defence  of  the  town,  and  now,  as  the 
troubles  with  Great  Britain  became  more  menacing,  it  was  felt 
necessary  to  make  provision  for  an  adequate  guard  against  dis- 
order within,  and  enemies  w^ithout.  In  1772  occurred  the  burn- 
ing of  the  Gaspee,  under  the  leadership  of  Abraham  Whipple. 
This  was  the  opening  gun  of  the  Revolution.  Although  Provi- 
dence sympathized  heartily  and  practically  with  the  cause  of  the 
colonies,  her  citizens  frowned  upon  lawless  and  tumultuous 
expressions  of  patriotism.  On  the  31st  of  August,  1774,  a  town 
meeting  specially  called,  denounced  any  attempt  to  disturb  the 
peace  and  order  of  the  town,  and  desired  *'  the  civil  magistrates  to 
exert  themselves  to  their  utmost  to  prevent  and  suppress  all  such 


30  *  OUR   POLICE. 

unhappy  disturbances  in  the  future,  in  doing  which  they  may 
rely  upon  the  aid  and  support  of  the  freemen  and  well  disposed 
inhabitants  at  all  times." 

In  May,  1775,  a  night  watch  was  established.  It  consisted  of 
four  men  who  traveled  each  night  in  pairs,  the  pairs  watching  in 
rotation.  The  records  do  not  give  any  further  information  con- 
cerning the  watch,  but  it  did  not  prove  permanent.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1796,  another  night  watch  was  established  consisting  of  six 
men  who  began  their  rounds  at  10  o'clock  each  night,  and  pat- 
rolled until  "  bell  ringing,"  or  sunrise,  in  the  morning.  Each 
man  who  watched  was  allowed  one  dollar  per  night.  The  ap- 
pointment of  the  watch  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  the 
Town  Council,  which  was  authorized  to  make  such  regulations  as 
were  necessary.  A  committee  consisting  of  James  Arnold,  Ebe- 
nezer  Thompson  and  William  Rhodes  was  appointed  to  build  a 
watch  house,  and  under  their  supervision  a  structure  twelve  feet 
square  and  seven  feet  high  was  erected  on  the  town's  land  near 
the  market  house.  At  each  successive  town  meeting  the  watch 
was  continued  by  the  citizens,  but  to  meet  the  expense  the  town 
was  compelled  to  borrow  money.  In  January,  1797,  a  committee 
consisting  of  J.  W.  Corlis,  Thomas  P.  Ives  and  Amos  B.  Atwell, 
was  appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of  maintaining  the 
night  watch,  and  to  report  the  most  eligible  method  of  doing  so. 
They  decided  that  a  night  watch  was  necessary  to  secure  the 
safety  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people,  and  that  a  direct 
tax  on  the  property  of  the  citizens  should  be  levied  as  a  more 
just,  equitable  and  certain  method  of  obtaining  a  good  and  suffi- 
cient watch  than  by  demanding  personal  service  by  the  citizens 
in  rotation. 

The  report  was  adopted  in  town  meeting,  and  in  November  of 
that  year  the  night  watch  was  reorganized  under  the  direction  of 
the  Town  Council,  which  was  specially  authorized  to  establish  a 
permanent  watch,  and  to  make  such  rules  and  regulations  as  from 
time  to  time  were  found  necessary  and  expedient.  The  Council 
appointed  twelve  men :  Richard  Marvin,  Jonathan  French, 
Calvin  Walker,  Ilenry  Alexander,  Obadiah  Mason,  Benjamin 
Peck,  Jeremiah  Russell,  Jonathan  Fowle,  Daniel  Snow,  Joseph 


OUR    POLICE. 


31 


Snow,  Araos  Warner  and  William  Andrews.  They  were  divided 
into  two  companies  of  six  men,  each  of  which  comprised  the  watch 
for  an  entire  night,  and  the  companies  took  turns,  each  watching 
every  other  night.  Richard  Marvin  and  Jeremiah  Russell  were 
appointed  captains,  and  it  was  their  duty  to  keep  an  exact  ac- 
count of  the  number  of  nights  they  themselves  watched  and  also 
of  the  men  who  composed  their  respective  watch  companies.  The 
accounts  were  submitted  to  the  Town  Council  at  regular  intervals. 
The  watchmen  were  compensated  for  their  services  at  the  rate  of 
one  dollar  for  each  night  that  they  watched. 

The  rules  and  regulations  established  required  the  watch  of  six 
men  to  meet  alternately  at  the  watch  house  precisely  at  9.30 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  at  10  o'clock  they  commenced  patrol- 
ling the  streets,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  "bell  ringing"-  in 


1 

OLD   WATCHMAN. 


the  morning.  Each  watch  was  divided  into  three  companies  of 
two  men  each,  who  traveled  together.  The  northward  watch 
patroled  the  streets  as  far  as  Benjamin  Cozzen's  residence  on 
North  Main  street.     The  westward  traveled  all  the  streets  as  far 


32 


OUR    POLICE. 


as  Hoyle's  tavern,  and  visited  Eddy's  Point  once  during  the 
night.  The  southward  patrolled  all  the  streets  as  far  as  India 
Point.  They  were  kept  constantly  abroad  under  the  Captain, 
and  were  ordered  to  be  vigilant,  and  to  carefully  inspect  the 
houses,  stores  and  workshops  they  passed,  in  order  to  prevent 
fires  gaining  headway.  They  were  to  suppress  all  riotous  con- 
duct in  the  streets,  and  to  commit  all  refractory  persons  to  the 
bridewell.  All  houses  which  contained  riotous  or  disorderly 
company  were  reported  in  writing  to  the  President  of  the  Town 
Council  by  the  Captain.  The  badge  of  the  watch  was  a  staff 
about  six  feet  in  length  with  a  hook  attached  to  one  end.  It  was 
the  duty  of  the  Captain  to  report  all  persons  committed  to  the 
bridewell  for  misconduct  to  "  any  one  or  more  Justices  of  the 
Peace  on  the  next  morning,"  who  would  hear  the  charges  and 
inflict  the  penalty  of  the  law  if  the  prisoner  was  found  guilty  of 
any  misdemeanor. 

January  13,  1800,  the  Town  Council  ordered  those  persons 
constituting  the  night  watch  to  abstain  from  going  into  any  of 
the  houses  for  the  purpose  of  getting  spirituous  liquors,  and 
the  captains  were  ordered  to  report  any  transgressions  of  the  rule 
to  the  Town  Council.  March  3,  1800,  the  watchmen  were 
ordered  to  call  on  all  persons  appearing  in  the  streets  after  11 
o'clock  at  night,  and  if  they  refused  to  give  their  names  they 
were  to  be  deemed  by  said  watchmen  as  disorderly,  and  detained 
in  the  watch  house  until  the  next  morning.  October  1st,  1800, 
a  watch  was  established  in  the  south  part  of  the  town  by  the 
Councils,  as  follows :  "  Whereas  request  is  made  to  this  Council 
that  a  watch  may  be  appointed  and  established  in  the  south  part 
of  the  town  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  the  same  and  to  preserve 
the  property  therein  from  being  purloined  or  stolen  by  the  wicked 
and  designing,  it  is  therefore  voted  and  resolved  that  the  follow- 
ing named  persons,  to  wit ;  Henry  Alexander,  Stephen  Whipple, 
Ephraim  Congdon  and  Demas  Bishop  be,  and  they  are,  hereby 
appointed  a  night  watch  for  that  purpose,  provided  that  the  ex- 
pense of  said  watch  be  defrayed  by  subscription,  and  not  con- 
sidered as  a  town  expense,  and  that  each  of  said  watchmen  be 
compensated  for  their  services  at  and  after  the  rate  of  two  dollars 


OUR   POLICE.  33 

for  every  night  they  may  watch,  as  aforesaid,  and  that  the  said 
four  persons  shall  watch  alternately,  two  of  whom  are  to  con- 
stitute the  watch  for  the  night,  and  that  they  may  be  vigilant  in 
the  performance  of  their  duty,  and  that  they  apprehend  all  per- 
sons they  may  find  in  that  part  of  the  town  during  the  night 
who  may  be  strolling  about,  and  whose  conduct  is  suspicious,  and 
commit  them  to  the  bridewell."  Such  persons  were  reported  in 
the  morning  to  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  hearing. 

October  20,  1806,  the  custom  of  calling  out  the  hour  of  mid- 
night whilst  the  watchmen  were  on  their  rounds  was  established. 
At  this  meeting  the  watch  were  ordered  not  to  sufier  any  com- 
pany to  remain  assembled  in  any  tenement  occupied  by  black 
people  after  10  o'clock  at  night.  If  they  should  refuse  to  imme- 
diately disperse  to  their  respective  homes  when  requested  to,  the 
watch  were  directed  to  commit  them  to  the  bridewell.  If  "  per- 
sons of  color  "  were  found  in  the  street  after  10  o'clock  at  night, 
the  watch  were  ordered  to  commit  them  to  the  bridewell  unless  a 
good  and  sufficient  reason  were  given  for  their  being  thus  abroad. 
It  was  also  decreed  that  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  captains  to 
observe  strictly  the  conduct  of  the  other  members  of  the  watch, 
and  to  make  diligent  inquiry  concerning  the  same,  and  if  any 
disorderly  behavior,  intemperance,  or  neglect  of  their  duty  should 
come  to  their  knowledge,  that  the  captain  should  report  it  to  the 
Town  Council  that  such  disorderly,  intemperate  or  negligent 
members  might  be  removed.  And  it  was  further  decreed  that 
each  of  the  captains  for  their  extra  services  respecting  the  com- 
mitment of  persons  to  the  bridewell,  reporting  them  to  justices  of 
the  peace,  and  in  reporting  said  disorderly,  intemperate,  and 
negligent  members  of  the  watch  to  the  Town  Council,  and  for  all 
other  extra  services,  should  be  allowed  seventeen  cents  over  and 
above  the  usual  amount  of  one  dollar  for  each  night  of  service. 

In  May,  1808,  a  volunteer  watch  was  established  to  assist  the 
town  watch.  The  members  were  given  the  same  power  and 
authority  while  on  duty  as  possessed  by  the  town  watch.  This 
watch  did  not  remain  in  existence  many  months,  but  there  is  no 
record  of  its  disbandment.  In  December,  1812,  the  owners  of 
property  between  Weybosset  bridge  and  Almy's  lane,  north  of 


34  OUR    POLICE. 

Steeple  street,  bj  subscription,  paid  for  the  services  of  two  addi- 
tional watchmen  to  guard  their  property.  They  were  under  the 
control  of  the  captain  of  the  town  watch.  They  patrolled  alter- 
nately one  each  night,  and  continued  to  do  so  till  September, 
1813,  when  the  public  watch  was  increased  to  sixteen  men.  In 
January,  1814,  the  town  watch  was  again  increased  to  twenty 
men,  and  at  the  same  time  their  pay  was  advanced  to  $1.25  per 
man  for  each  night  of  service.  In  that  month  some  of  the  citi- 
zens hired  four  men  to  watch  certain  parts  of  that  side  of  the 
town  during  the  night.  The  Town  Council  conferred  the  same 
power  and  authority  on  them  as  possessed  by  the  town  watch, 
and  gave  them  the  privilege  of  using  the  town  watch-house. 
They  were  placed  under  the  direction  of  tlie  captain  of  the  town 
watch.  In  March,  1814,  the  number  of  the  town  watch  was 
reduced  to  twelve,  the  original  number,  and  the  pay  was  reduced 
to  one  dollar  per  night. 

June  8, 1814,  the  Town  Council  appointed  a  watch  of  six  men 
to  be  stationed  on  board  a  vessel  with  carriage  guns,  to  be 
anchored  between  Kettle  Point  and  Field's  Point,  below  the 
town.  This  watch  was  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  alarm  to 
the  town  in  case  of  the  appearance  of  a  hostile  force.  A  guard 
patrolled  the  bay,  and  in  case  of  the  discovery  of  any  threatening 
force  they  were  to  alarm  the  watch  aboard  the  vessel  by  firing 
their  muskets.  When  so  alarmed,  or  by  any  discovery  of  their 
own,  the  watch  on  the  vessel  were  to  alarm  the  town  by  firing 
their  carriage  guns  and  lighting  a  beacon  on  the  high  land  on 
Field's  Point.  In  August  the  guard  and  vessel  were  withdrawn, 
and  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Council  the  town  watch  were 
ordered,  in  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire  or  of  invasion  from  without, 
to  immediately  repair  to  the  town  clerk's  office  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  care  of  the  town's  property  and  the  records  of  the  town. 

In  181^  volunteer  night  watch  associations  were  formed  in 
various  parts  of  the  town,  and  the  members  were  granted  the 
same  power  as  possessed  by  the  town  watch  while  on  duty. 
They  were  not  allowed  to  employ  substitutes  except  from  among 
their  members.  In  October,  1814,  the  watch  was  increased  to 
twenty  men,  and  their  pay  was  again  advanced  to  $1.25  per 


OUR   POLICE.  35 

night.  At  that  time  they  were  ordered  to  arrest  all  persons 
whom  they  met  who  persisted  in  smoking  cigars  in  the  streets 
and  gangways  of  the  town.  In  March,  1815,  the  town  watch 
was  again  reduced  to  twelve  men,  and  the  Town  Council  ordered 
that  the  men  draw  lots  to  determine  which  ones  should  be 
dismissed.  In  September,  1815,  the  night  watch  for  the  west 
side  of  the  town  was  increased  to  sixteen  men,  divided  into  two 
watches,  and  served  by  rotation  eight  each  night.  At  the  same 
time  the  night  watch  for  the  east  side  was  increased  to  twenty- 
eight  men,  also  divided  into  two  watches  to  patrol  in  rotation. 
This  proved  too  great  a  burden  for  the  town,  and  in  October  the 
watch  was  reduced  again  to  twelve  men.  In  the  meantime  the 
volunteer  watch  associations  dropped  out  of  existence.  .  In  No- 
vember, 1816,  the  watch  was  increased  to  twenty  men.  The  cap- 
tains were  ordered  to  form  five  patrols  of  two  men  each  in  each 
watch,  and  to  see  that  no  two  men  travelled  together  as  partners 
for  a  longer  time  than  one  week.  In  March  of  the  next  year  the 
watch  was  again  reduced  to  twelve  men,  and  in  November  was 
ordered  to  meet  thereafter  at  the  Hydraulion  Engine  House,  on 
Exchange  street. 

Providence  had,  at  this  time,  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  each  watchman  carried  a  pole  long  enough  to  reach  to  the 
second  story  of  the  houses  on  his  beat.  If  he  saw  a  light  in*  the 
window  at  what  he  considered  an  unreasonable  hour,  he  would 
tap  upon  the  window  with  his  pole,  and  demand  to  know  the 
cause  of  the  illumination.  It  was  also  the  duty  of  the  watch  to 
proclaim  the  hours  throughout  the  night,  adding  "All's  well,"  as 
a  reassurance  to  those  whose  slumbers  were  disturbed. 

As  the  town  population  grew,  the  inadequacy  of  the  old  system 
of  watching  the  streets  became  more  and  more  evident.  About 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  Rhode  Island  had  virtually 
emancipated  the  slaves,  and  liberated  negroes  were  a  vexatious 
source  of  trouble.  They  had  to  learn  by  degrees  the  distinction 
between  liberty  and  license,  and  it  could  not  be  expected  that  the 
enfranchised  race,  long  down-trodden  by  an  oppressive  slave-code, 
could  rise  all  at  once  to  the  plane  of  their  former  masters.  The 
frequency  of  crime  among  the  blacks  was  as  striking  in  Rhode 


36  OUR   POLICE. 

Island,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and  earlier  portion  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  as  in  some  localities  of  the  South  to-day. 
It  was  the  effect  to  be  expected  from  ages  of  bondage  and  ignor- 
ance. To-day,  on  the  other  hand,  the  colored  people  of  Rhode 
Island  have  a  well-earned  reputation  for  thrift,  intelligence,  and 
orderly  behavior.  They  have  outgrown  the  marks  of  slavery ; 
and  doubtless  the  South  will  witness,  in  course  of  time,  a  similar 
improvement. 

In  1824  Oliver  Cummins,  Joseph  Butler,  Jr.,  Nathaniel  G. 
Metcalf  and  a  number  of  others  were  indicted  for  rioting  and 
breaking  down  houses  in  a  place  called  "  Hardscrabble,"  a  hamlet 
in  the  north-west  part  of  the  town  of  Providence,  described  as 
containing  about  twenty  dwellings,  mostly  inhabited  by  people 
of  color.  Here  were  held  revels  and  midnight  orgies,  and  the 
rioters  appear  to  have  been  upheld  by  public  opinion  in  the  sum- 
mary suppression  of  Hardscrabble.  The  jury  acquitted  the 
accused.  A  writer  of  the  period  attributed  the  existence  of  the 
evil  "to  the  difference  in  the  severity  of  our  police  and  the 
neighboring  cities  in  relation  to  the  blacks,"  adding  that  "our 
neighbors  abroad  may  perhaps  be  surprised  that  such  a  transac- 
tion should  have  happened,  apparently  under  the  eye  of  the 
police,  without  their  interference ;  and  our  own  citizens  may  be 
led  to  infer  that  there  is  a  tardiness  and  inefficiency  in  the  nature 
of  our  municipal  government  (we  do  not  refer  to  its  officers  who 
have  uniformly  discharged  their  duties  with  vigilance  and  ability) 
which,  as  we  increase  in  population,  it  may  become  necessary  to 
exchange  for  a  form  that  will  not  in  fact  be  more  despotic  than 
the  undefined  powers  of  a  town  council,  but  which  is  fitted  to 
carry  those  powers  into  speedy  and  efficient  operation,  as  exigencies 
may  require.  If  such  had  been  the  case  heretofore,  the  moral 
and  orderly  town  of  Providence  would  not  have  been  disgraced 
by  the  existence  of  a  Hardscrabble,  or  of  a  mob  to  demolish  it." 
The  only  evidence  that  the  Hardscrabble  riot  had  any  influence 
in  securing  an  increased  efficiency  of  the  police  force,  was  that,  in 
October  of  the  same  year  (1824)  the  watch  commenced  to  patrol 
at  8  o'clock.  In  1826  the  watch  was  increased  to  twenty-four 
men,  and   in  October,  1827,  the   captains  of  the  watch  were 


OUR    POLICE.  37 

authorized  to  make  such  arrangements  and  disposition, of  the 
several  watch  companies  as  they  judged  most  expedient.  In 
September,  1828,  the  watch-house  in  the  building  which  was 
on  the  site  of  the  present  County  Court  House  was  first  occupied. 

While  the  little  band  of  watchmen  were  brave  enough,  and 
perhaps  eflfective  enough  in  dealing  with  ordinary  routs  and 
disturbances,  they  were  helpless  in  riots  and  extended  pop- 
ular commotions,  and  this  is  a  distinguishing  feature,  as  be- 
tween the  guardians  of  the  peace  in  former  days  and  the  thor- 
oughly equipped  and  organized  police  of  the  present.  The 
Hardscrabble  outbreak,  already  alluded  to,  was  one  instance  of 
this.  The  Olney's  Lane  riot,  of  September,  1831,  was  another, 
as  it  was  also  the  most  signal  instance  of  mob  supremacy  in  the 
history  of  the  State.  Both  riots  were  due  to  the  inefficiency  of 
the  old  police  to  deal  with  prevalent  vice.  The  Olney's  Lane 
riot,  on  account  of  its  importance,  is  deserving  an  extended* 
description.  It  occurred  in  that  part  of  the  town  called  Snow 
Town,  inhabited  chiefly  by  idle  blacks,  of  the  lowest  stamp. 
Some  of  the  houses  were  occupied  by  whites,  and  some  by  an 
indiscriminate  mixture  of  whites  and  blacks.  In  addition  to  the 
ordinary  evils  of  houses  of  ill-fame,  decent  residents  of  the  neigh- 
borhood had  had  inflicted  upon  them  a  series  of  outrages,  which 
they  complained  of  to  the  proper  authorities,  but  without  avail. 
Midnight  revels,  severe  and  bloody  afirays,  and  even  open  riots, 
were  frequent,  and  at  length  thousands  of  respectable  citizens 
were  prepared  to  regard  with  approval  any  method,  however 
lawless,  of  getting  rid  of  the  nuisance  and  disgrace. 

Five  sailors,  whose  names  were  William  Hull,  Jack  Smith, 
George  Erickson,  William  Henry,  and  one  called  Tom,  started, 
on  the  evening  of  September  21,  1831,  from  their  boarding- 
houses  in  the  southerly  part  of  that  town  to  go,  as  one  of  them 
expressed  it,  '^  on  a  cruise."  They  arrived  at  the  foot  of  Olney's 
Lane  about  eight  o'clock,  where  they  met  six  or  seven  men  from 
one  of  the  steamboats  with  sticks  or  clubs  in  their  hands,  and 
without  hats  or  jackets.  They  stated  that  they  "had  been  up 
and  had  a  row  with  the  darkies,"  and  asked  the  sailors  to  go  up 
and  aid  them.     About  one  hundred  persons  were   assembled, 


38  OUR   POLICE. 

ready  for  trouble.  The  sailors  started  up  the  lane  with  the 
crowd,  singing  and  shouting.  A  gun  was  discharged  and  stones 
thrown  from  the  vicinity  of  the  houses  occupied  by  the  blacks. 
Stones  were  also  thrown  by  the  crowd  against  the  houses.  Upon 
the  firing  of  the  gun  the  main  body  of  the  crowd  retreated  to  the 
foot  of  the  lane.  The  five  sailors,  however,  continued  up  the 
lane,  and  when  they  were  near  a  blacksmith  shop  another  gun 
was  discharged.  William  Henry,  one  of  the  sailors,  put  his 
hand  to  his  face,  and  said  he  was  shot.  George  Erickson  and 
William  Hull  proceeded  to  a  house  further  east  occupied  by 
blacks,  probably  intending  to  avenge  their  comrade's  injury. 

Meantime  the  crowd,  who  had  been  attracted  by  the  uproar, 
had  retreated  to  the  west  end  of  the  lane.  A  black  man,  on  the 
steps  of  the  house,  presented  a  gun  at  the  two  sailors  and  ordered 
them  to  keep  their  distance.  They  in  turn  proposed  to  take  his 
gun.  This  they  did  not  attempt,  but  pursuing  their  walk  a  little 
further,  stopped.  The  colored  man  thereupon  told  them  *^  to  clear 
out,"  or  he  would  fire  at  them.  They  dared  him  to  shoot.  He 
did  fire,  and  Erickson  was  instantly  killed.  The  first  company, 
who  were  still  at  the  foot  of  the  lane,  then  returned,  tore  down 
two  houses,  and  broke  the  windows  of  a  number  of  other  resi- 
dences of  the  colored  people.  During  the  next  day  there  was 
great  excitement.  The  Sheriff"  of  the  county,  with  other  officers, 
were  in  Olney's  Lane  early  in  the  evening.  As  the  mob  in- 
creased in  numbers  and  in  violence  of  language,  they  were 
ordered  to  disperse,  and  seven  were  taken  into  custody.  Subse- 
quently others  were  arrested,  who  were  rescued  from  the  officers. 
The  Sheriff"  then  called  upon  the  Governor  for  military  aid,  and 
about  midnight  the  First  Light  Infantry  marched  to  his  assist- 
ance. The  mob,  grown  reckless  and  defiant,  received  the 
infantry  with  a  shower  of  stones.  The  soldiers  were  reluctant 
to  fire,  and  rather  than  take  human  life  retreated  from  the  lane. 
The  rioters,  emboldened  by  what  they  regarded  as  a  repulse  of 
the  military,  returned  to  their  work  of  destruction  and  demolished 
six  more  houses  in  the  lane  and  one  near  Smith  street,  not 
dispersing  until  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


OUR   POLICB.  39 

On  the  morning  of  the  23rd  it  was  apprehended  that  the  lawless 
element,  now  in  virtual  control  of  the  northern  part  of  the  town, 
would  make  an  attack  on  the  jail.  The  Sheriff  again  demanded 
military  aid,  and  the  Governor  isued  orders  to  the  Light  Dragoons, 
the  Artillery,  the  Cadets,  the  Volunteers,  and  the  First  Infantry, 
to  be  in  arms  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  mob  appeared 
only  in  small  force,  and  did  but  little  mischief,  and  the  military 
were  dismissed  until  the  next  evening.  On  the  evening  of  the 
24th  the  mob  assembled  in  great  force  and  began  the  demolition 
of  houses.  The  military  were  again  called  out,  and  started  for 
Smith  street,  being  assailed  on  the  march  with  stones.  They 
marched  up  Smith  street  and  took  post  on  the  hill.  Here  the 
Governor  and  Sheriff  remonstrated  with  the  rioters,  and  endeav- 
ored by  threats  and  persuasion  to  get  them  to  disperse,  but  in 
vain.  Even  the  announcement  that  the  muskets  were  loaded 
with  ball  cartridge  had  no  effect.  The  mob  continued  to  assault 
with  stones  the  soldiers  and  the  houses. 

The  riot  act  was  read,  and  a  peace  officer,  William  S.  Patten, 
Esq.,  called  upon  the  crowd  to  depart  to  their  respective  homes. 
The  mob  listened  in  silence,  but,  as  soon  as  the  proclamation  had 
been  made,  they  answered  it  with  shouts  and  showers  of  stones. 
Then  the  Sheriff,  having  succeeded  in  gaining  attention,  declared 
that  all  must  disperse,  or  in  five  minutes  they  would  be  fired  upon. 

"Eire  and  be ,"  was  the   answer  w^hich  rang  through   the 

still  air  of  the  night  from  hundreds  of  throats.  The  rioters  went 
on  with  the  work  of  destruction.  Shots  in  the  air  by  the  mili- 
tary only  provoked  another  shower  of  missiles,  accompanied  with 
hootings  and  imprecations.  The  volleys  of  stones  injured  many 
of  the  soldiers,  and  at  length  the  Sheriff  directed  the  captain  of 
of  the  infantry  to  fire.  Captain  Shaw  gave  the  word,  "ready," 
and  paused.  The  riot  grew  more  furious.  The  crisis  had  arrived. 
"Shall  I  fire?"  asked  the  humane  commander,  turning  to  the 
Sheriff.  "Yes  ;  you  must  fire,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  "Aim 
— fire  !"  uttered  the  captain,  firmly.  The  infantry  discharged 
their  muskets;  four  persons  fell  mortally  wounded;  perfect 
silence  ensued  ;  not  a  sound  was  heard,  and  violence  immediately 
ceased.     The  mob  was  quelled. 


40  OUR   POLICE. 

Five  lives  had  been  sacrificed,  eight  houses  destroyed,  and  nine 
or  ten  other  houses  damaged.  The  committee  of  citizens,  who 
investigated  the  circumstances  of  the  riot,  and  fully  vindicated 
the  action  of  the  soldiery,  reported  that  they  "  had  not  been 
able  to  ascertain  that  any  houses  occupied  by  respectable  inhabi- 
tants had  been  injured."  This  simple  statement  indicates  the 
extent  of  the  plague-spot  which  provoked  such  heroic  remedy. 

The  same  committee  pointed  out  certain  defects  in  the  police 
system  of  Providence.  They  did  not  accuse  the  watchmen  of 
neglecting  their  duty.  They  laid  the  blame  for  existing  evils  on 
the  absence  of  a  responsible  head  of  the  police  force,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  president  of  the  town  council  be  appointed  a  high 
constable  or  marshal  of  the  town,  with  a  salary  sufficient  to  sup- 
port his  family  without  resorting  to  other  business,  and  with  au- 
thority to  ascertain  the  names  of  suspicious  persons,  to  visit  sus- 
pected houses,  and  to  make  regular  reports  as  to  the  execution  of 
the  laws. 

The  result  of  the  agitation  thus  stimulated  by  the  murder  of 
the  poor  Swedish  sailor,  George  Erickson,  was  that  Providence 
threw  off  the  town  system  of  government,  and  became  a  city, 
probably  many  years  before  such  a  change  would  have  come 
about  in  the  usual  course  of  events.  In  1832,  when  the  city 
was  incorporated,  the  watch  consisted  of  twenty-four  men,  as 
follows :  Avery  Allen,  captain  of  the  first  watch ;  David  E. 
Mann,  captain  of  the  second  watch ;  Angell  Battey,  Thomas 
Hopkins,  David  Jenkins,  Wm.  B.  Mason,  Joseph  Saunders,  Fay- 
ette Thurber,  Pardon  S.  Pearce,  Michael  Smith,  John  Saunders, 
John  Holmes,  James  S.  Hudson,  Sylvester  Bowers,  John  Wilbur, 
Wm.  Pearce,  Edmund  Sheffield,  Major  Tripp,  Relief  Thurber, 
Benjamin  C.  Warner,  Edwin  Tripp,  and  Benjamin  Hathaway. 
The  pay  of  the  captain  had  been  fixed  at  $1.25  per  night,  and 
that  of  the  others  at  $1  per  night. 


OUR   POLICE.  41 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  FIRST  CITY  MARSHAL. — THE  OLD  WATCH-HOUSE  AND  ITS 
UNDERGROUND  CELLS. — ATTIRE  AND  APPEARANCE  OF  THE 
WATCHMEN. — DANGER  IN  THE  CAMLET  CLOAK. — INCIDENTS 
OF  THE  DORR  DISTURBANCE. — WATCHMEN  ARRESTED  BY  SEN- 
TRIES.— ESTABLISHMENT  OF  A  DAY  POLICE. — THE  MURDER 
OF  NIGHT-WATCHMAN  PULLEN. — A  DESPERADO  KILLED  BY  A 
WATCHMAN  IN  SELF-DEFENCE. — THE  CITY  DIVIDED  INTO  DIS- 
TRICTS.— HOW  THE  WATCH  PATROLLED  THEIR  BEAT&— MAYOR 
RODMAN  ON  PROHIBITION. 

In  dealing  with  the  city  watch  we  come  now  to  a  period  of 
which  there  are  survivors,  and  concerning  which  our  statements 
are  derived  not  from  record  alone,  but  from  the  evidence  of  living 
eye-witnesses.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  among  us  to-day,  in 
active  life,  and  apparently  in  vigorous  health,  are  men  who  joined 
the  watch  not  long  after  the  city  was  born,  and  who  have  kindly 
favored  the  writer  with  their  recollections  of  an  age  that  to  the 
multitude  of  our  citizens  is  known  but  by  story  and  tradition. 

Henry  G.  Mumford  was  the  first  City  Marshal,  having  been 
elected  to  that  office  in  June,  1833,  and  holding  it  until  June, 
1845.  The  office  was  presumably  established  in  accord  with 
the  recommendation  of  the  committee  of  citizens  after  the 
Olney's  Lane  riot,  its  duties  being  such  as  they  suggested  for 
the  High  Constable  or  Marshal.  The  City  Marshal  was  pri- 
marily a  prosecuting  officer.  The  ordinance  creating  his  office 
provided  that  "  it  shall  be  his  duty,  from  time  to  time,  to  pass 
through  the  streets  and  gangways  of  the  city;  to  observe  all 
nuisances,  obstructions  and  impediments  therein,  to  the  end  that 
the  same  may  be  removed  or  prosecuted  according  to  law.  It 
shall  also  be  his  duty  to  receive  all  complaints  made  against  any 
person  or  persons  for  any  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  state  or 
ordinances  or  orders  of  the  city ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  shall 


42 


OUR   POLICE, 


attend  daily,  at  some  stated  hour,  in  one  of  the  public  offices  of 
the  city,  to  be  designated  by  the  Mayor.  He  shall '  also  enforce 
and  carry  into  effect  each  and  every  ordinance  which  shall  be 
in  force  within  the  city ;  he  shall  obey  and  execute  the  orders 
and  commands  of  the  Mayor  and  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in 
relation  to  any  matter  or  thing  in  which  the  city  may  be  in  any 
wise  concerned  or  interested  whenever  thereunto  required ;  he 
shall  also  be  vigilant  to  detect  the  breach  of  any  law,  ordinance 
or  order ;  he  shall  prosecute  all  offenders  as  soon  as  may  be,  and 
attend,  in  behalf  of  the  city,  the  trial  of  all  offences  which  may 
be  prosecuted ;  and  he  shall  lay  before  the  Mayor  a  statement  of 
all  prosecutions  by  him  instituted  in  behalf  of  the  city,  or  in  which 
the  city  is  in  any  way  interested  or  concerned,  within  one  week  after 
their  final  determination  respectively."  These  duties  naturally 
brought  the  City  Marshal  into  close  relations  with  the  police, 
but  the  night  watch  continued  to  be  independent  of  his  directions, 
although  he  was  given  charge  of  the  day  patrol  when  established. 
The  old  watch  did  good  service  in  its  day  and  generation,  and 
its  few  surviving  veterans  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
record  of  their  force.  The  watch-house  fifty  years  ago  was  located 
in  the  ancient  town  house,  at  the  corner  of  Gollege  and  Benefit 
streets.  This  old  town  house  had  been  erected  years  before  the 
Revolution  by  the  First  Congregational  Society.  During  the 
Revolution  the  Reverend  Dr.  Lathrop  preached  there,  and  de- 
nounced the  enemy  with  all  the  patriotic  fervor  w^hich  character- 
ized the  ministry  of  that  eventful  time.  Later,  and  until  the 
building  was  purchased  by  the  town  of  Providence,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Eno3  Hitchcock  was  the  minister  of  the  Society.  In  this  house 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Murray,  the  pioneer  of  Universalism,  preached  his 
first  sermon  to  a  Providence  audience,  and  its  pulpit  was  occupied 
by  many  eloquent  Methodists  long  before  that  denomination 
possessed  a  house  of  their  own  in  these  Plantations,  and  the 
strong  appeals  of  the  eccentric  Dow  often  resounded  therein. 
As  a  watch-house  it  differed  considerably  in  appearance  and 
convenience  from  the  commodious  police  stations  of  the  present 
day.  An  apartment  14  by  24  feet  in  the  south  basement  of  the 
building  was  the  watch-house  proper,  a  room  opening  out  of  it 


OUR   POLICE.  43 

containing  the  cells,  which  were  three  in  number.  The  cells 
were  six  feet  wide  and  fourteen  in  depth,  and  each  contained  a 
couple  of  bunks,  or  berths.  The  only  accommodation  for  pris- 
oners was  in  these  cells.  Benches  were  arranged  around  the 
sides  of  the  watch-house  room,  and  upon  these  the  occasional 
applicants  for  lodging  were  sometimes  permitted  to  sleep.  At 
daylight  the  watch-house  was  locked  up,  and  the  key,  a  ponderous 
instrument  of  antique  pattern,  eight  inches  in  length,  was  carried 
to  the  entry  of  the  Eagle  Bank  building,  now  No.  27  Market 
Square,  and  carefully  deposited  under  a  spittoon  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs.  The  first  man  down  at  night  made  it  his  business  to 
secure  the  key  and  re-open  the  watch-house. 

The  watch-house  and  the  adjoining  cell-room  were  heated  by  a 
single  stove.  This  was  a  huge  old-fashioned  box-stove,  the  fuel 
chamber  of  which  was  about  two  feet  high  and  three  feet  long. 
When  this  formidable  consumer  of  cord-wood  was  well  fed,  it 
gave  out  a  generous  heat  to  soften  the  rigor  of  keen  winter 
nights.  If  the  wood  was  green,  or  the  fire  neglected,  it  died 
down  to  a  feeble  glow,  and  the  distant  underground  cells  grew 
damp  and  cold.  The  only  light  which  illumined  the  watch-house 
was  that  which  twinkled  dimly  from  the  little  tin  "  petticoat " 
lamps,  or,  at  times,  from  the  open  stove  door,  whence  the  flames 
glimmered,  dancing  and  flickering  from  floor  to  ceiling,  and 
playing  hide  and  seek  with  the  shadows.  Whale  oil  was  the 
illuminator  then,  the  inexpensive  and  brilliant  product  con- 
trolled by  the  Standard  Oil  millionaires  not  having  yet  con- 
ferred its  benefits  on  the  world.  The  cells  were  not  provided 
with  iron  gratings ;  but,  instead,  the  doors  were  built  of  8  x  4 
stufi",  placed  a  few  inches  apart.  The  basement  was  low  studded, 
and  there  was  no  pretence  at  finish  anywhere.  In  later  years  the 
watch-house  was  removed  to  the  north  basement,  and  still  later 
on  up  stairs,  where  cell-rooms  were  constructed  for  prisoners, 
and  the  cellars  given  up  to  the  accommodation  of  lodgers. 

The  night  watchmen,  in  appearance  at  least,  were  not  likely  to 
invite  a  stranger's  confidence.  They  were  paid  but  a  small  sum 
for  the  performance  of  duty,  and  partly  from  motives  of  economy 
chose  to  wear  the  roughest  dress.     In  case  of  a  personal  collision 


44  OUR   POLICE. 

with  midnight  prowlers,  to  which  the  watch,  few  in  number, 
were  more  exposed  than  a  formidable  and  disciplined  police,  no 
great  loss  would  be  sustained  if  their  clothing  should  be  torn  or 
soiled.  There  was  nothing  like  a  uniform,  and  the  watchmen 
seemed  to  have  rather  a  repugnance  to  any  distinguishing  mark. 
The  town  watch  had  been  accustomed  to  carry  clubs  three  or 
four  feet  long,  with  a  large  iron  hook  fastened  at  the  end. 
"What  the  object  of  the  hooks  was  is  difficult  to  surmise,  unless  it 
was  to  "hook  on  to  "  prisoners.  Under  the  city  government  the 
club  lacked  the  hook,  and  was  of  any  size  that  the  watchmen 
chose  to  carry.  The  old-fashioned  camlet  cloaks  gave  place, 
about  thirty-five  years  ago,  to  overcoats  furnished  by  the  city. 
The  camlet  cloaks  will  be  remembered  by  many  of  our  older 
readers.  Several  yards  of  material  were  required  for  their  ample 
skirts  and  wide  capes.  Shoddy,  but  for  which,  as  a  mill  super- 
intendent once  told  the  writer,  "  half  the  world  would  go  naked," 
had  not  then  come  into  use,  and  a  camlet  cloak  would  outwear 
half  a  dozen  modern  overcoats.  They  were  fashionable  in  their 
day,  as  were  the  Scotch  plaids,  fastened  together  by  great  brass 
buckles  and  chains.  The  plaids  were  sometimes  worn  by  the 
watch,  but  the  camlets  were  most  in  vogue.  The  latter  were 
warm  and  serviceable,  and  so  close  in  texture  as  to  shed  water 
nearly  as  well  as  rubber.  It  was,  however,  sometimes  very 
inconvenient  in  making  an  arrest,  as  ex-Chief  John  M.  Knowles 
found  one  bitterly  cold  night  during  the  early  years  of  his  service 
on  the  city  watch.  He  attempted  to  make  an  arrest  on  Canal 
street  of  a  man  who  had  committed  an  assault.  The  fellow 
oflFered  a  desperate  resistance,  and  clinched  Mr.  Knowles  by  the 
throat.  So  violent  was  the  attack  that  officer  and  man  fell  from 
the  slippery  curbstone  into  the  street.  Mr.  Knowles  was  on  the 
underside,  with  the  man  still  clutching  his  throat.  The  long 
skirts  of  the  camlet  cloak  which  the  officer  wore  became  twisted 
about  his  legs,  and  the  assailant,  who  was  tall  and  muscular, 
fully  realized  his  advantage.  Mr.  Knowles,  however,  succeeded 
in  reversing  positions,  and,  with  the  help  of  his  partner,  took 
the  prisoner  to  the  watch-house. 

In  the  early  part  of  1837  attempts  made  to  set  fires  caused 


OUR   POLICE.  45 

the  watch  to  be  ordered  on  duty  at  6.30  o'clock  each  evening. 
In  October,  1837,  Captain  David  E.  Mann  died  in  office,  and 
Captain  Avery  Allen  was  placed  in  command  of  both  watch 
companies.  In  December  of  that  year  of  panic  and  distress  in- 
cendiarism prevailed  to  such  an  alarming  extent  that  it  became 
necessary  to  appoint  sixteen  additional  watchmen,  who  served 
nearly  a  year.  During  this  time  the  City  Marshal  and  the  Cap- 
tain of  the  watch  were  ordered  to  enforce  especial  vigilance.  In 
November,  1838,  the  number  of  men  was  reduced  to  twpnty-four 
men,  beside  Captain  Avery  Allen,  who  was  orc^red  not  to  take 
any  route  of  patrol,  but  to  perform  so  much  patrol  duty  in  any 
and  all  parts  of  the  city  as  would  not  interfere  with  his  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  watches.  Incendiarism  in  the  last  part 
of  1839  made  the  services  of  sixteen  extra  watchmen  again 
necessary,  and  they  patrolled  from  December  3  to  February  17 
of  the  next  year.  During  this  time  all  of  the  watchmen  were 
compelled  to  do  double  duty, — that  is,  each  man  travelled  every 
night.  After  the  watch  was  reduced  again  to  twenty-four  men 
the  pay  was  reduced  to  83  cents,  and  afterward  advanced  to  87| 
cents,  and  the  pay  of  the  Captain  was  fixed  at  $1. 

During  the  Dorr  war  the  laws  were  silent,  and  military  took 
the  place  of  civil  authority.  The  watch  went  on  with  their 
watching,  but  they  had  no  part,  as  watchmen,  in  the  stirring 
scenes  about  them.  Yet  no  one  who  moved  abroad  by  day  or 
night  could  fail  to  hear  more  or  less  of  the  strife.  Men  hardly 
knew  whom  to  trust  in  that  troubled  time.  A  man  who  kept  a 
grocery  store  at  which  the  watch  were  in  the  habit  of  congre- 
gating early  in  the  evening,  used  to  express  himself  strongly  in 
favor  of  Dorr  and  his  cause.  But  when  the  prisoners  were 
marched  in  from  Acote's  Hill,  the  store-keeper  was  one  of  the 
guards  that  had  them  in  charge.  About  two  o'clock  one  summer 
morning,  while  ex-Captain  James  Wilbur  Sanders  was  patrolling, 
with  his  partner,  Benager  Warner,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Tockwotton  House,  the  bells  began  to  toll  and  the  booming  of 
cannon  came  from  the  opposite  quarter  of  the  city.  This  was 
the  signal  for  the  attack  upon  the  arsenal.  As  the  two  watch- 
men came  down  toward  the  business  part  of  the  city  merchants 


46  OUR   POLICE. 

were  walking  up  and  down  in  front  of  their  stores,  armed  with 
muskets,  and  keeping  a  self-constituted  guard  over  their  prop- 
erty. Secret  patrolmen,  with  pass-words  of  which  the  watch 
knew  nothing,  held  possession  of  the  streets.  The  two  official 
guardians  of  the  city's  peace  were  arrested  and  themselves  taken 
to  the  watch-house  as  prisoners.  After  a  time  their  captors  set 
them  at  liberty,  upon  the  intercession  of  Captain  Allen.  Coming 
down  to  South  Water  street  they  were  met  by  a  man  with  musket 
and  bayonet,  who  #  told  them  to  halt  and  turn  back,  or  he  would 
"run  them  through."  Captain  Allen  had  instructed  the  watch- 
men to  submit  in  all  such  cases,  and  the  officers  returned  to  the 
watch-house.  The  city  police  were  powerless.  Ruffians  pretend- 
ing to  be  secret  patrolmen  openly  defied  their  authority,  and 
patriotism  was  the  excuse,  real  or  pretended,  for  many  disorders. 
With  the  cessation  of  armed  hostilities  the  regular  authorities 
again  assumed  their  accustomed  sway ;  but  it  was  a  long  time 
before  the  effects  of  that  exciting  struggle  were  effaced  in  the 
experience  of  the  watchmen. 

In  1845,  Jabez  J.  Potter  was  appointed  City  Marshal,  and 
remained  in  command  till  1848,  when  Daniel  K.  Chaffee  was 
elected  Marshal.  In  this  year  the  first  badge  was  adopted.  It 
was  a  brass  star ;  the  men  were  averse  to  wearing  it,  and  car- 
ried the  stars  in  their  pockets.  Two  years  later  they  were  com- 
pelled to  wear  them  upon  the  lapels  of  their  coats. 

In  1851  ten  men  were  appointed  by  the  City  Council  in  joint 
convention  as  a  day  police  force.  Their  names  were  William  H. 
Hudson,  Jabez  J.  Potter,  George  A.  Billings,  Thomas  W.  Hart, 
George  W.  Wightman,  William  G.  Slack,  William  B.  Cranston, 
Nathan  M.  Briggs,  William  G.  Merriweather,  and  John  M. 
Shaw.  These  men  were  placed  under  the  command  of  the  City 
Marshal,  the  night  force  remaining  a  distinct  and  independent 
body,  under  the  direction  of  the  Captain  of  the  watch.  This 
decidedly  inconvenient  arrangement  of  a  dual  police  force  was 
maintained  until  the  organization  of  the  present  police,  under 
Mayor  Doyle. 

In  July,  1852,  the  night-watch  was  increased  to  thirty-two 
men,  and  was  divided  into  two  districts.     Captain  Allen  con- 


OUR   POLICE.  47 

tinued  in  command  of  the  division  located  at  the  old  town  house. 
Simeon  Sherman  was  placed  in  command  of  the  other  division, 
which  was  provided  with  quarters  in  the  old  stone  school  building 
which  stood  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Summer  and  Pond 
streets.  On  the  night  of  May  18th,  in  this  year,  occurred  the 
murder  of  night-watchman  William  Pullen,  father  of  Constable 
William  H.  Pullen. 

The  senior  Pullen  was  partner  on  the  watch  of  Benjamin 
Aaron  Newhall,  one  of  the  veterans  of  the  Providence  police. 
They  went  out  together,  as  usual,  at  half-past  nine  in  the  evening. 
Nothing  unusual  occurred  until  they  started  to  return  to  the  sta- 
tion. The  night  was  dark  and  foggy.  A  strange  circumstance 
happened  which  made  a  deep  impression  afterwards  upon  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Newhall,  although  he  thought  little  of  it  at  the  time. 
Just  before  them,  and  close  above  their  heads,  although  invisible, 
a  bird  kept  flying,  and  making  a  wierd  unearthly  sound.  Mr. 
Pullen  said  he  could  see  the  bird,  and  was  greatly  agitated.  As 
they  passed  along  th«  street  the  bird  seemed  resolved  to  keep 
their  company.  *  Mr.  Pullen  sat  down  on  some  steps  and  struck 
out  with  his  arms  toward  his  tormentor,  which  his  companion 
could  hear  but  could  not  see.  But  it  was  of  no  avail.  Wh'en 
they  walked  on  again  the  bird  kept  just  before  them,  uttering  its 
strange,  distressing  cry,  but  always  hid  in  the  mist.  It  still 
continued  to  wind  around  their  heads  with  the  cry,  said  by  Mr. 
Newhall  to  have  been  like  nothing  he  heard  before  or  since,  until 
they  reached  the  station.  As  the  door  closed  behind  them  Mr. 
Pullen  drew  a  sigh  of  relief,  and  remarked  that  he  was  glad  to 
be  out  of  the  reach  of  that  bird  at  last.  Meantime  trouble  was 
arising  in  another  quarter  of  the  city.  Watchman  William  B. 
Cranston,  afterward  Superintendent  of  Hacks,  was  called  out  of 
bed  by  a  citizen  to  suppress  a  disturbance  on  Elbow  street. 
When  he  arrived  on  the  scene  the  party  were  going  away,  and 
he  followed  them  up  Ship  street,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  other 
watchmen,  in  order  to  arrest  them  all,  as  they  were  very 
disorderly 

Watchmen  Newhall  and  Pullen  went  out  on  their  second  beat 


48  OUR    POLICE. 

and  met  Mr.  Cranston  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Chestnut 
streets.  There  were  four  of  the  midnight  revellers.  Each  of  the 
officers  arrested  one,  but  the  fourth  escaped.  While  hurrying 
down  Broad  street  with  their  men  to  the  station  the  fourth  was 
seen  running  after  them  armed  with  a  heavy  club,  and  shouting 
to  the  officers  to  release  his  companions.  Mr.  Cranston  was  in 
the  advance  and  Mr.  Newhall  in  the  rear.  The  man  with  the 
club  ran  up  to  Mr.  Newhall  brandishing  his  weapon.  Mr.  New- 
hall's  prisoner  cried  out  in  terror :  "  For  God's  sake  don't  let 
him  strike  me!"  Mr.  Newhall  hurried  his  man  along,  and 
passed  Mr.  Pullen,  who  had  lost  his  prisoner.  It  was  never 
known  from  the  lips  of  that  officer  how  the  escape  was  effected ; 
but  a  person  looking  from  a  window  in  the  vicinity  afterwards 
reported  that  the  fellow  got  away  only  after  a  desperate  struggle. 
Mr.  Newhall  had  just  passed  Mr.  Pullen  when  he  heard  the 
latter  cry  out :  "  Oh,  Ben  !  Oh,  Ben  !"  Turning  as  he  heard 
the  appeal,  Mr.  Newhall  saw  his  partner  reeling  on  the  sidewalk 
near  the  City  Hotel.  The  ruffian  who  pursued  them  had  struck 
the  officer  with  fearful  force  over  the  head  with  his  club.  Aband- 
oning his  prisoner  Mr.  Newhall  ran  to  aid  his  companion. 
Before  Mr.  Newhall  could  get  to  the  rescue  another  blow  de- 
scended with  murderous  effect  upon  the  head  of  the  prostrate 
officer.  As  Newhall  sprang  toward  the  infuriated  assailant  the 
latter  dealt  him  a  terrible  blow  in  the  forehead,  inflicting  a  wound 
an  inch  and  a  half  in  length.  Newhall  struck  back  with  the 
only  weapon  he  had  to  parry  the  blow — a  piece  of  broomstick — 
and  just  then  another  man  came  along  and  drew  the  murderer's 
fury  upon  himself.  As  the  ferocious  wretch  struck  madly  at  this 
third  party  the  club  flew  out  of  his  hands  and  against  a  fence  at 
some  distance.  Then  the  assassin  rushed  swiftly  down  the  street, 
and  was  lost  in  the  shadows  of  night.  All  the  prisoners  escaped. 
The  officers  forgot  every  thought  of  re-capture  in  their  anxiety  to 
aid  their  suffering  companion.  Mr.  Pullen  was  carried  home, 
and  expired  at  ten  o'clock  the  following  morning.  The  mur- 
derer, whose  name  was  Charles  Reynolds,  was  never  arrested. 
It  was  ascertained  that  he  ran  home,  changed  his  attire  hastily, 


OUR   POLICE.  49 

and  fled  to  an  uncle  in  Apponaug.  He  soon  after  departed 
secretly  to  Europe.  The  club  with  which  the  sanguinary  deed 
was  committed  is  preserved  as  a  relic,  at  the  Central  Station. 

Another  fatal  affray,  but  in  which  the  lawbreaker  and  not  an 
officer  of  the  law  was  the  victim,  bore  evidence  that  the  watchmen 
of  old  were  courageous  in  the  performance  of  duty,  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  confront  and  grapple  with  the  dangerous  element  of 
the  community.  The  late  Edward  P.  Knowles  was  Mayor,  a 
man  of  vigorous  will,  broad  intelligence,  and  unflinching  purpose, 
and  who,  if  he  had  been  willing  to  sacrifice  principle  to  expe- 
diency, might  have  achieved  higher  honors  than  the  chief  magis- 
tracy of  Providence.  Henry  P.  Snow,  appointed  watchman  by 
Mayor  Knowles,  was  patrolling  in  the  vicinity  of  Atwell's  ave- 
nue, with  his  partner  Francis,  about  half-past  ten  o'clock,  one 
night  in  1854.  It  was  a  rough  locality,  and  its  denizens  were 
engaged  in  frequent  conflict  with  the  authorities.  A  commotion 
on  the  avenue  attracted  the  attention  of  the  watchmen.  On 
approaching  they  discovered  a  man  named  Sallie,  who  being 
rendered  quarrelsome  and  ugly  by  liquor,  was  beating  a  female 
companion.  The  officers  ordered  the  man  to  go  home,  and  Sallie 
started  off"  with  the  woman,  Mr.  Snow  and  Mr.  Francis  following 
to  see  that  he  did  not  molest  her  again.  Sallie  and  his  com- 
panion entered  a  house,  and  the  officers  turned  away,  supposing 
that  everything  was  right. 

Suddenly  the  stillness  of  the  night  was  broken  by  a  woman's 
loud  cries  of  "  Murder  !  Murder  !  Help,  or  he'll  kill  me  !"  The 
watchmen  ran  back  to  the  house,  just  as  Sallie  rushed  out  in 
company  with  a  man  named  Magee.  The  latter  introduced  him- 
self by  knocking  Francis  down.  Sallie  seized  Mr.  Snow's 
club,  and  closed  with  him  in  a  desperate  struggle.  Friends  of 
the  assailants  rushed  to  their  aid,  and  joined  in  the  attack  on  the 
officers.  The  crowd  rained  stones  upon  the  struggling  and 
nearly  overpowered  watchmen,  and  Mr.  Snow  received  a  terrible 
blow  on  the  top  of  his  head,  Sallie  inciting  his  companions  to 
keep  up  the  assault,  and  shouting,  "  I'll  kill  you.  Snow  !  I'll 
kill  you  !"  The  watchman  succeeded  in  getting  his  revolver 
from  his  pocket,  and  cried,  "  Stop,   Sallie,  or  I  shall  shoot  !'* 


50  OUR    POLICE. 

But  there  was  no  cessation  on  the  part  of  the  desperado,  who 
was  in  the  vigor  of  youth,  powerful,  and  muscular.  The  stones 
flew  faster.  Mr.  Snow's  partner  was  prostrate,  and  struggling 
vainly  to  free  himself  from  his  antagonist.  There  seemed  no 
chance  for  assistance  to  come,  still  less  for  retreat.  To  delay 
was  death,  and  with  his  strength  almost  gone  the  officer  fired. 
Suddenly  he  was  relieved  of  his  adversary,  and  rose  to  his  feet. 
Magee  released  his  hold  on  Mr.  Francis,  and  sprang  at  Snow. 
The  latter  fired  again,  and  the  crowd  of  assailants  fell  back  in 
dismay. 

There  was  no  further  demonstration,  but  the  solemn  hush  that 
ensued  was  as  marked  as  the  previous  uproar.  The  officers 
sprang  their  rattles,  and  others  appeared.  The  situation  was 
reversed.  The  officers  were  on  their  feet,  soiled  and  bloody, 
but  with  no  fatal  wounds.  The  men  who  had  so  fiercely  assailed 
them  lay  bleeding  on  the  ground.  Magee  was  shot  through  the 
thigh,  but  his  wound  was  not  mortal.  Sallie  was  shot  through 
the  windpipe,  and  died  in  half  an  hour.  Mr.  Snow  was  sus- 
tained in  his  action,  and  promoted  the  following  spring.  Fed- 
eral Hill  had  received  a  lesson. 

In  November,  1853,  the  night  patrol  was  increased  to  forty-six 
men,  and  the  city  was  divided  into  five  districts.  Previous  to 
this  time  the  men  were  engaged  at  trades  during  the  day,  but 
when  this  increase  in  the  force  was  made  all  the  men  were  ordered 
to  travel  every  night,  and  the  majority  gave  up  their  day  work. 
The  watch-house  at  the  corner  of  College  and  Benefit  streets  was 
the  first,  or  central  station  of  that  time.  The  second  was  located 
at  the  corner  of  Mill  and  Charles  streets  ;  the  third,  on  Wicken- 
den  street,  west  of  Benefit ;  the  fourth  on  Summer  street,  at  the 
corner  of  Pond;  the  fifth  over  the  house  of  Hand  Engine  7, 
at  the  corner  of  Richmond  and  Tippecanoe  streets.  Each  of  the 
stations  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  Sergeant.  James  W.  Sanders 
was  appointed  Sergeant  of  the  first ;  Lewis  Potter,  of  the  second ; 
Edwin  Tripp,  of  the  third;  Simeon  Sherman,  of  the  fourth; 
Joseph  W.  Sanders,  of  the  fifth.  The  Captain  visited  each 
station  once  every  night.  Ten  men  were  added  to  the  night- 
watch  in  March,  1854. 


OUR    POLICE.  61 

It  was  the  custom  for  all  the  force,  at  this  period,  to  meet  in 
the  old  watch-house  on  College  street,  at  eight  o'clock  P.  M.,  to 
answer  roll-call,  when  they  were  dismissed  to  meet  at  their  re- 
spective stations  for  roll-call  at  9  P.  M.  Eight  patrolmen  from 
each  station  went  on  their  beats  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
the  year  round,  doing  duty  until  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
in  summer,  and  six  in  winter.  The  men  went  out  in  pairs, 
denominated  the  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  nines.  The  first 
pair  returned  at  ten  o'clock,  turning  out  the  pair  who  had  re- 
mained at  the  station ;  the  second  nine  came  in  at  half-past  ten, 
turning  out  the  first;  the  third,  at  eleven,  whose  places  were 
taken  by  the  second,  and  the  fourth  at  half-past  eleven,  turning 
out  the  third.  After  that  the  men  were  out  two  hours  at  a  time 
until  morning,  two  officers  being  always  at  the  station.  The 
arrangement  was  alternated  every  fifth  night,  so  that  the  burden 
of  duty  was  fairly  divided. 

Each  patrolman  had  his  partner,  ex-Chief  John  M.  Knowles 
being  the  associate  of  Frank  J.  Potter  at  Station  1.  The  beat 
of  the  first  nine  of  that  station  lay  between  Benefit  street  and 
the  Seekonk  river,  including  the  area  north  of  George  and  south 
of  Bowen  streets;  that  of  the  second  nine  included  Benefit, 
North  and  South  Main,  South  Water  streets.  Market  Square, 
and  all  cross  streets,  from  Bowen  to  Planet  street ;  of  the  third 
nine,  half  of  the  Great  Bridge,  north  side,  up  Westminster  to 
Walker,  through  to  Fountain,  down  to  Acorn,  through  to  Jones' 
Hill,  down  to  Cove  street,  including  half  the  park,  south  side, 
the  railway  stations,  Exchange  Place,  and  the  upper  bridge  ;  the 
fourth  took  in  the  south  side  of  the  Great  Bridge,  Dyer  street 
to  Dorrance,  Dorrante  to  Broad,  up  to  the  New  Market,  down  to 
Snow,  through  to  Westminster  street,  and  down  to  the  Great 
Bridge,  and  all  cross  streets  included  in  each  case.  A  detail  of 
the  route  taken  by  the  first  nine  partners  on  starting  out  will 
serve  to  illustrate  the  system.  Starting  out  together  they  sepa- 
rated at  the  corner  of  College  and  Benefit  streets ;  one  passed 
to  Prospect  street,  and  up  Prospect  to  Bowen ;  the  other  passed 
along  Benefit  street  to  Angell,  up  Angell  to  Congdon,  up  Cong- 
don  to  Bowen,  up  Bowen  to  the  corner  of  Prospect  and  Bowen 


52  OUR   POLICE. 

streets,  where  the  partners  met.  Both  then  walked  together 
down  Bowen  to  Hope  street,  down  Hope  to  Angell,  down  Angell 
to  Governor,  through  Governor  to  Waterman,  up  Waterman  to 
Hope  street,  then  separating  again,  one  "  came  in"  on  Waterman 
street,  the  other  passing  up  Hope  and  coming  in  on  Angell 
street,  the  partners  meeting  on  Prospect,  between  Angell  and 
Waterman  streets.  The  first  nines  were  out  but  an  hour,  and 
when,  in  winter,  the  lights  were  to  go  out  at  nine  o'clock,  from 
Benefit  street  to  the  Seekonk,  it  was  lively  work. 

In  June,  1854,  William  H.  Hudson  was  elected  City  Marshal. 
The  prohibitory  law,  known  as  the  Maine  law,  was  then  in  force 
in  the  city  and  State,  and  had  an  enthusiastic  advocate  in  Mayor 
Knowles,  although  the  citizens  generally  were  far  from  being 
unanimous  in  support  of  it.  Mayor  Knowles  complained  that 
the  police  did  not  properly  sustain  him,  and  that  he  was  there- 
fore unable  to  fulfil  the  duties  imposed  on  him  by  law  as  chief 
executive  of  the  city.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the  complaint, 
Mayor  Knowles  was  not  renominated,  being  succeeded  by  Mayor 
James  Y.  Smith,  afterward  War  Governor.  In  1855,  an  im- 
portant change  was  made  in  the  government  of  the  police.  By 
Section  4  of  the  City  Charter,  in  1832,  it  was  provided  "that 
the  executive  powers  of  said  city  generally,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  police,  with  all  the  powers  now  possessed  by  the  Town 
Council  of  the  town  of  Providence,  and  of  its  members  by  virtue 
of  their  offices  (whether  said  last-mentioned  powers  are  conferred 
by  the  General  Assembly  or  by  the  town),  except  the  power  of 
passing  by-laws  and  ordinances,  shall  be  vested  in  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen."  This  was  interpreted  by  Mayor  Bridgman,  in 
his  original  address,  and  by  his  successors,  as  meaning  that 
"the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  Mayor  presiding,  have  jurisdiction 
over  all  matters  over  which  the  late  Town  Council,  or  its  mem- 
bers by  virtue  of  their  offices,  had  jurisdiction,  whether  that 
jurisdiction  was  derived  from  the  laws  of  the  State  or  from 
reference  by  the  town,  except  the  power  of  passing  by-laws 
and  ordinances ;  also,  the  executive  powers  of  the  city  generally, 
and  the  administration  of  police."  In  other  words,  as  to  the 
police,  the  Aldermen  were  the  Town  Council,  and  the  Mayor,  in 


OUR   POLICE.  53 

his  relation  to  the  police,  was  simply  what  the  president  of  the 
Town  Council  had  been — an  officer  supposed,  on  account  of  his 
position  as  presiding  officer,  to  represent  the  views  of  the  Coun- 
cil, and  to  make  suggestions  in  accord  with  the  views  of  that 
body.  In  adopting  an  ordinance  for  a  public  watch,  however, 
the  City  Council  construed  the  charter  to  permit  an  enactment  to 
the  effect  that  "  the  watch  shall,  in  all  cases  not  otherwise  pro- 
vided for,  be  governed  by  such  instructions  and  directions  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  given  by  the  Mayor  or  Board  of 
Aldermen ;  and  the  Mayor  shall  be  authorized  to  suspend  from 
duty,  for  cause,  any  member  of  said  watch  until  such  time  as  his 
case  may  be  decided  upon  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen.'* 

The  law,  as  amended  in  1855,  provided  that  the  "  City  Mar- 
shal, Police  Constables,  and  City  Watchmen  of  the  City  of  Provi- 
dence, shall  hereafter  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of  said  city, 
by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  The 
Mayor  of  said  city  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  of  said  officers 
from  office  whenever,  in  his  opinion,  the  interests  of  said  city 
shall  require  such  removal."  In  1858  the  charter  was  again 
amended  so  as  to  make  the  City  Marshal  an  officer  elected  by 
the^  general  voters.  Ex-Mayor  Knowles,  in  introducing  ex- 
Mayor  James  Y.  Smith,  said :  ^'  It  affords  me  satisfaction  that 
my  friend,  to  whom  presently  it  will  be  my  duty  to  administer 
the  oath  as  my  successor,  is  to  be  vested  with  a  power  over  the 
police  never  possessed  by  his  predecessors,  but  which  experience 
has  taught  us  cannot  longer  be  withheld  but  at  the  sacrifice  of 
many  advantages  of  a  city  organization.  Henceforth  the  Mayor 
will  be,  not  in  nominal  rank  merely,  but  in  fact,  the  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  city;  and  in  fact,  and  not  as  heretofore,  theoretically 
and  in  popular  estimation  only,  its  responsible  head." 

So  far  as  the  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  was  concerned, 
the  control  of  the  police  by  the  Mayor  does  not  appear  to  have 
made  much  difference,  for  Mayor  Rodman,  in  his '"inaugural 
address  in  1858,  said :  "  While  the  popular  sentiment  is  decidedly 
opposed  to  the  traffic  in  general,  a  large  and  influential  number 
of  our  fellow-citizens  are  conscientiously  committed  to  the  belief 
that  all  prohibitory  measures  must  eventually  fail;   and  while 


54  OUR   POLICE. 

they  yield  compliance  to  the  existing  statutes,  they  do  not  give 
to  suppressive  measures  their  cordial  support,  and  this  lukewarm- 
ness  and  negative  sympathy  strengthens  the  efforts  of  those  who 
evade  the  law.  Censure  falls  heavily  upon  those  to  whom  the 
enforcement  of  this  statute  is  committed ;  but  until  a  healthier 
moral  sentiment  prevails,  the  labor  will  continue  to  be  as  great 
and  the  result  as  unsatisfactory  as  now."  And  this  was  written 
just  thirty  years  ago. 

City  Marshal  Hudson  served  until  June,  1859,  when  Thomas 
W.  Hart  became  the  City  Marshal,  and  held  the  office  until  it 
was  abolished,  and  the  office  of  Chief  of  Police  was  created. 
Meantime  the  public  voice  and  public  opinion  loudly  demanded 
reform  in  the  administration  of  police  affairs.  The  old  watch- 
house  had  become  a  public  nuisance.  The  Evening  Press  of 
July  6,  1860,  asked  how  long  the  second  municipality  in  New 
England  would  be  "  compelled  to  submit  the  innocent  and  guilty 
to  cells  whose  existence  is  evidence  that  the  tales  of  the  Jersey 
prison  ship  and  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  were  no  fiction." 
"  How  long,"  asked  the  editor,  the  late  George  W.  Danielson, 
"  must  the  servants  of  the  city,  the  police  and  night  watchmen, 
be  required  to  occupy  quarters  that  Dr.  Snow  would  declare  to 
be  unfit  for  a  plague  hospital  ?  May  we  not  hope  to  see  a  change 
of  some  sort,  if  purification  by  fire  is  not  available  ?  Very  few 
of  our  citizens  are  aware  of  the  real  character  and  condition  of 
the  cells  of  detention  in  the  old  town  house,  or  a  repetition  of 
the  scenes  of  the  Staten  Island  Quarantine  might  be  anticipated. " 
Three  days  later  Mayor  Knight  called  the  attention  of  the  City 
Council  to  the  subject  in  a  strongly  worded  message,  following 
which  a  resolution  ordering  the  immediate  demolition  of  the 
ancient  structure  was  passed.  The  old  town  house  was  torn 
down,  and  the  watch  was  given  quarters  in  the  ward  room  in  the 
old  Water  Witch  fire  engine  station  on  Benefit  street.  In  April, 
1861,  the  Central  Police  Station  on  Canal  street  was  completed, 
and  the  Centre  Watch  took  up  its  quarters  there  on  the  sixteenth 
of  that  month.  September  30,  1864,  the  town  watch  was 
abolished  and  the  present  system  of  police  organized. 


OUR  POLICE.  .  55 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GROWTH  OP  PROVIDENCE  IN  WEALTH  AND  POPULATION. — THOMAS 
ARTHUR  DOYLE  ELECTED  TO  THE  MAYORALTY. — HE  CREATES 
THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  FORCE — "A  BODY  OF  MEN  OF  WHOM 
OUR  CITIZENS  ARE  JUSTLY  PROUD." — ADOPTION  OF  A  POLICE 
UNIFORM. — WRETCHED  CONDITION  OF  STATION-HOUSES,  EX- 
CEPT THE  CENTRAL. — OFFICE  OF  CITY  MARSHAL  ABOLISHED. — 
CAREER  OF  THE  LAST  CITY  MARSHAL. 

In  arriving  at  the  period  when  the  police  force  of  Providence 
was  organized  it  may  be  well  to  glance  at  the  changes  which 
made  it  necessary  that  Providence  should  no  longer  depend  upon 
the  antiquated  watch  system  for  the  protection  of  the  lives  and 
property  of  its  citizens.  Although  not  yet  a  city,  in  the  full  and 
complete  meaning  of  that  word,  Providence  was  no  longer  a 
town.  When  incorporated,  in  1832,  the  city  had  a  population 
of  17,000,  scattered  over  an  area  of  something  over  five  square 
miles,  traversed  by  sixty  miles  of  streets.  The  taxable  valuation 
was  $6,838,300  real,  and  $5,282,900  personal,  and  the  first  tax 
assessed  yielded  the  sum  of  $40,000  at  thirty-three  cents  on  the 
hundred.  For  the  first  fiscal  year  the  entire  expenses  were  but 
$43,205.11,  including  for  the  watch  $4,110.  The  principal 
streets  were  lighted  with  oil-lamps,  enclosed  in  small,  well- 
smoked  lanterns,  placed  at  great  height  from  the  foot- walks ;  a 
volunteer  fire  department  with  hand-engines  and  stationary  force- 
pumps  and  buckets  in  every  house,  were  the  means  for  extin- 
guishing fires.  The  night  watch  consisted  of  men  who  crept 
about  the  streets  well  wrapped  in  coats  and  cloaks,  travelling  in 
pairs  for  protection  and  company.  The  few  school-buildings 
showed  the  wear  of  time  and  neglect.  Such  was  Providence  at 
the  organization  of  the  city  government.  The  men  who  com- 
posed the  first  City  Council  were  men  of  energy  and  integrity. 
Hezekiah  Anthony  and  Asa  Pike  were  the  last  two  of  the  first 


56  OUR   POLICE. 

City  Council  to  pass  away,  Mr.  Anthony  also  being  a  survivor 
of  the  old  town  council.  The  progress  of  Providence  was  per- 
haps never  more  tersely  indicated  than  by  the  statement  in  Mr. 
2lnthony's  memorial, — "  The  first  year  I  lived  in  Providence 
(1804)  I  paid  $3  tax ;  in  1839  I  paid  $120.50."  In  1883  he 
paid  taxes  to  the  amount  of  $2,552. 

The  first  Mayor,  Bridgman,  continued  in  office  until  his  death, 
December  31,  1840.  lie  was  succeeded  by  the  Hon.  Thomas 
M.  Burgess,  who  held  the  place  from  February  2,  1841,  to  the 
organization  of  the  government,  in  June,  1852.  From  that  date 
until  June,  1859,  Mayors  Barstow,  Danforth,  Knowles,  Smith, 
and  Rodman  successively  presided  over  the  municipality,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Hon.  Jabez  C.  Knight,  who  continued  in  office 
until  June  6,  1864. 

After  the  organization  of  the  city  government  the  city  began 
to  increase  in  population  and  wealth ;  from  time  to  time  the 
municipal  departments  were  increased  and  improved ;  streets  were 
opened,  widened,  and  straightened  in  the  business  section ;  assist- 
ance was  given  to  railroad  enterprises.  The  system  of  public 
education  was  thoroughly  reorganized  and  placed  upon  a  proper 
basis,  and  new  buildings  and  furniture  provided.  As  already 
stated  a  day  police  was  established,  and  the  fire  department  im- 
proved by  changing  to  a  paid  system  with  four  steam  fire-engines 
in  addition  to  the  hand-engines.  Not  only  the  principal,  but  all 
well-travelled  thoroughfares  were  lighted  by  gas  or  fluid-lamps, 
about  twelve  hundred  of  these  being  in  use  in  1864.  The  public 
health  received  special  attention  by  the  organization  of  a  depart- 
ment, which  was  placed  in  charge  of  an  officer.  Dr.  Edwin  M. 
Snow,  whose  ability  is  recognized  not  only  in  this,  but  in  foreign 
countries.  These  numerous  changes  and  improvements  received 
the  active  and  hearty  co-operation  of  the  various  gentlemen  who 
filled  the  mayoralty  during  the  first  thirty-two  years  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  city  government. 

At  the  close  of  this  period,  or  in  1864,  while  the  area  of  the 
city  remained  the  same  as  in  1832,  the  population  had  increased 
to  53,810,  and  the  valuation  of  property  had  risen  to,  real 
estate  $38,961,900  and  personal  $41,037,900,  making  a  total 


OUR   POLICE.  67 

of  $79,999,800,  upon  which  a  tax  of  $559,998.60  was  collected, 
at  a  rate  of  seventy  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars.  The 
entire  city  expenses  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30, 
186-1:,  amounted  to  $632,606.58,  including  for  the  day  police 
and  night  watch,  $49,097.12. 

The  masterful  and  magnetic  personality  of  Thomas  Arthur 
Doyle  now  looms  up  in  the  civic  affairs  of  Providence — the  man 
of  whom  it  may  be  said,  if  it  has  not  been  said  before,  that  he 
found  Providence  a  village  and  left  it  a  city,  who  impressed  his 
quickening  energy,  his  electric  enthusiasm,  his  earnest  and 
vigorous  genius,  on  every  department  of  local  administration, 
and  swept  with  his  keen,  all-discerning  vision  every  corner  of 
the  broad  municipality.  Thomas  A.  Doyle  loved  the  city  of 
Providence,  and  even  his  bitterest  opponents  could  not  but 
acknowledge  that  his  was  not  a  selfish  devotion,  that,  apart  from 
his  personal  interests  and  their  advancement,  he  had  a  pure  and 
genuine  attachment  to  the  city  of  his  birth  and  training,  was 
tenderly  jealous  of  its  fame,  and  loyally  proud  of  its  progress. 

Thomas  A.  Doyle  was  born  March  15,  1827,  of  native 
parentage,  and,  on  his  father's  side,  of  Irish- American  ancestry, 
A  noble  Rhode  Island  .mother,  of  whom,  even  to  the  closing  days 
of  his  illustrious  lifetime,  Thomas  A.  Doyle  always  spoke  with 
filial  gratitude  and  devotion,  spared  no  toil  or  sacrifice  to  fit  her 
promising  son  for  an  honorable  career.  First  in  his  Ward,  after- 
ward in  the  City  Council,  he  proved  his  capacity  for  dealing 
with  public  affairs.  As  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Assessors  he 
brought  to  task  those  of  the  wealthy  who  were  inclined  to  escape 
their  share  of  the  city's  burdens,  and  his  energetic  spirit  and 
independent  and  original  genius  drew  attention  to  him  as  the 
man  required  to  drag  the  municipal  car  from  the  ruts  of  village 
conservatism  and  start  it  on  the  highway  of  civic  progress  and 
aggrandizement. 

Thomas  A.  Doyle  created  the  Providence  police  force.  "  It  is 
now  more  than  thirteen  years,"  said  Mayor  Doyle,  in  his  first 
inaugural,  of  June,  1864,  "  since  an  ordinance  was  adopted,  fix- 
ing the  number  of  day  police  at  ten,  and  in  that  period  the  city 
has  80  extended  and  increased  in  population  as  to  render  the 


58  OUR   POLICE. 

erdinance  almost  inoperative.  By  its  provisions  two  of  the  force 
are  required  to  remain  at  the  station,  two,  and  some  part  of  the 
time  three,  to  attend  upon  the  railroad  trains  and  steamboats,  two 
others  are  employed  in  serving  warrants  and  notices  of  different 
kinds,  leaving  three,  and  a  part  of  the  time,  four  men,  to  patrol 
our  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of  streets,  and  protect  a 
population  of  fifty-five  thousand  people.  Can  it  be  surprising 
that,  with  these  facts,  both  ordinances  and  statutes  are  disregarded, 
that  street  broils  and  depredations  occur  with  impunity,  that  our 
public  thoroughfares  have  been  turned  into  race-courses,  and  that 
our  citizens  murmur  because  these  things  are  not  prevented  by  the 
police  ? 

"  In  this  connection  I  call  your  attention  to  the  amount  of 
work  performed  by  the  force  for  the  year  ending  this  date. 
More  than  one  thousand  complaints  made  to  the  City  Marshal 
have  been  investigated ;  nearly  nine  hundred  and  fifty  warrants 
have  been  served  away  from  the  station,  and  nearly  three  hun- 
dred at  the  station ;  between  three  and  four  hundred  arrests  have 
been  made  without  complaints,  and  as  many  more  with.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  duties,  notices  are  served,  paupers  removed,  and 
various  services  rendered  which  need  not  .be  enumerated.  SuflS- 
cient  has  been  given  to  show  that  the  present  force,  however 
much  of  their  time  is  passed  in  idleness,  accomplish  a  large 
amount  of  work  in  each  year. 

"  It  is  not  only  in  the  number  of  men  provided  for  that  our 
police  system  is  defective,  but  in  the  arrangement  of  the  day  and 
night  force  into  two  distinct  and  separate  organizations.  This 
the  experience  of  larger  and  older  cities  has  demonstrated.  The 
result  of  their  experience,  as  well  as  of  many  smaller  cities  than 
ours  is,  that  the  entire  police  force,  both"  for  day  and  night  ser- 
vice, should  be  one  organization,  under  one  head,  and- wearing 
a  common  uniform.  In  no  other  way  can  a  force  be  made  so 
effective,  and  in  no  other  way  can  the  city  secure  a  body  of  men 
ready  at  all  times  for  any  service  that  emergency  may  demand. 

"  I  earnestly  recommend  an  increase  in  the  number  of  the  day 
force,  and  that  the  members  of  both  the  day  and  night  police  be 
required  to  wear  a  uniform.     Both  citizens  and  strangers  should 


THOMAS  AETHUR  DOYLE, 
Ex-Mayor. 


tf     *  < 


*  • « I  «*  *■  *t 


OUR    POLICE.  61 

be  able  to  know  the  men  to  whom  they  may  look  for  protection, 
and  for  this  purpose  policemen  should  be  readily  distinguished 
from  other  persons  on  the  street.  While  wearing  an  easily  dis- 
tinguishable uniform,  every  citizen  will  be  a  watch  upon  them  to 
secure  their  faithfulness  to  duty.  During  their  hours  of  service 
they  cannot  idle  their  time  away,  because  they  are  sure  to  be 
known  and  reported.  I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  enlarge  upon 
this ;  an  inquiry  in  any  direction  where  a  uniform  is  worn  will 
convince  the  most  sceptical.  I  am  also  of  the  opinion  that  it 
would  be  well  to  consolidate  our  two  branches  under  a  chief  of 
police,  to  be  appointed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  rest  of  the 
force,  who  should  perform  the  duties  and  receive  the  pay  of  the 
City  Marshal.  I  ask  your  early  attention  to  the  whole  subject, 
and  only  add  that  no  effort  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  make 
the  present  force  as  effective  as  may  be,  and  secure  to  our  citizens 
the  best  result  attainable  with  the  means  at  my  command." 

The  City  Council  was  in  hearty  aocord  with  the  sentiment  and 
purposes  of  the  Mayor,  and  promptly  went  to  work  to  organize 
a  police  force  worthy  of  the  city,  and  of  its  wealth  and  position 
among  the  municipalities  of  the  nation.  The  ordinance  creating 
the  police  system,  as  it  substantially  exists  to-day,  went  into 
effect  August  12,  1864.  It  provided  that  the  permanent  police 
officers  of  the  City  of  Providence  should  consist  of  a  City  Mar- 
shal and  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and  three  police  constables, 
who  should  also  be  city  watchmen,  and  perform  such  duties  by 
day  and  by  night,  either  as  police  constables  or  city  watchmen, 
or  both,  as  they  may  be  detailed  for  by  the  Mayor,  and  were  to 
have  all  the  power  and  authority  that  police  constables  and  city 
watchmen  then  had,  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  the  ordinances  of 
the  city,  and  the  orders,  rules,  and  regulations  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  and,  when  on  duty,  should  wear  such  uniform  as  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  might  direct.  The  police  constables  were  to 
be  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  and  to  hold  their  offices  until  vacated  by  death  or  res- 
ignation, or  until  removed  therefrom  by  the  Mayor.  The  Mayor, 
with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  should  appoint  one 
police  constable  to  be  Captain  of  police,  five  to  be  Sergeants,  and 


62  OUR   POLICE. 

one  to  be  Clerk,  the  duties  of  these  officers  to  be  prescribed  by  the 
Mayor  and  Aldermen.  The  Mayor  might  assign  any  of  the  con- 
stables to  be  detectives,  patrolmen,  or  doormen,  in  his  discretion, 
and  should  have  power  to  detail  any  of  the  police  constables  for 
the  performance  of  such  duties  as,  in  his  opinion,  the  public  in- 
terest and  safety  of  the  city  might  require ;  and  should  have 
power  to  remove  from  office  any  police  constable  whenever,  in  his 
opinion,  the  interests  of  the  city  should  require  such  removal. 
The  Mayor  and  Aldermen  were  also  authorized  to  make,  from 
time  to  time,  such  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government,  dis- 
position, and  management  of  said  police  constables  as  they  might 
deem  expedient,  "provided  the  same  are  not  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  the  State  and  the  ordinances  of  the  City  of  Providence." 
By  an  ordinance  passed  a  month  later  the  compensation  of  the 
police  was  fixed  at :  captain,  $3  a  day  ;  sergeants,  $2. 62  J ;  clerk, 
$2.25 ;  detectives,  $2.50 ;  patrolmen,  $2.25 ;   doormen,  $2. 

The  new  department,  as  organized,  consisted  of  ninety-nine 
men,  and  they  were  assigned  to  duty  as  follows ;  Thomas  W. 
Hart,  City  Marshal ;  Thomas  J.  A.  Gross,  Captain ;  William 
B.  Cranston,  Superintendent  of  Hacks ;  Albert  A.  Slocum, 
Clerk ;  Warren  G.  Slack  and  Ira  B.  Wilson,  Warrant  Officers ; 
John  M.  Clark,  Superintendent  of  Lights.  Sergeant  Benjamin 
A.  Newhall  was  placed  in  command  of  the  First  Station,  from 
which  thirty-eight  men  patrolled,  twenty  on  night  duty  and 
eighteen  on  the  day  patrol. .  The  Second  Station  was  located  at 
the  corner  of  Mill  and  Bark  streets;  Sergeant  Frederick  W. 
Perry  commanded  there,  with  twelve  patrolmen  ;  Third  Station, 
Wickenden  street.  Sergeant  Edwin  Tripp,  twelve  patrolmen; 
Fourth  Station,  in  the  Knight  Street  Fire  Station,  Sergeant 
Simeon  Sherman,  twelve  patrolmen ;  Fifth  Station,  on  Richmond 
street,  Sergeant  James  W.  Sanders,  twelve  patrolmen.  The 
headquarters  of  the  department  were  in  the  Central  Station,  on 
Canal  street.  The  cost  for  maintaining  the  force  the  first  year 
amounted  to  $86,872.83.  The  police  in  that  year  made  2,531 
arrests,  provided  lodgings  for  1,147  persons,  and  returned  115 
lost  children  to  their  parents.  The  whole  amount  of  property 
reported  as  lost  or  stolen  amounted  to  $18,946.65,  of  which  the 


OUR    POLICE.  .  63 

police  recovered  $12,643.75.  Mayor  Doyle  was  able  to  say  in 
his  next  inaugural  that,  "  We  have  now  a  body  of  men  of  whom 
our  citizens  are  justly  proud.  Every  part  of  the  city  is  now 
patrolled  by  day  and  night ;  the  men  having  well-defined  por- 
tions of  territory  assigned  to  their  care  are  responsible  for  what 
transpires  upon  their  beats  during  their  term  of  service." 

The  year  1865  witnessed  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  for  the 
police,  and  the  addition  of  s'even  men  to  the  force.  Fifty  of  the 
policemen  had  been  members  of  the  day  patrol  and  night  watch 
under  the  previous  system.  The  uniform  adopted  was  the  same 
as  in  Boston,  and  in  general  characteristics  corresponded  with  the 
uniforms  of  other  cities.  Each  man  was  required  to  furnish  his 
own  outfit,  but  the  first  year,  the  purchase  of  an  overcoat  was 
excused,  on  account  of  the  high  price  of  clothing.  The  uniform 
was  of  blue  cloth,  made  in  about  the  same  style  as  the  present, 
with  lettered  brass  buttons,  black  belts  and  caps  made  of  the 
same  material  as  the  clothing.  The  first  officer  to  wear  the  uni- 
form in  public  was  patrolman,  now  Deputy-Chief  John  T.  Brown, 
when  he  went,  at  the  time  of  President  Lincoln's  assassination, 
to  attend  a  gathering  on  the  East  Side,  held  for  the  purpose  of 
denouncing  that  awful  deed.  The  uniforms  at  first  drew  con- 
siderable attention  among  the  citizens,  and  officers  were  repeat- 
edly stopped,  in  the  way  of  good-natured  curiosity,  by  persons 
who  wished  to  examine  the  blue  and  the  brass.  The  general 
expression  was  one  of  gratification  that  Providence  had  come 
into  line  with  the  important  cities  of  the  United  States. 

Mayor  Doyle  admonished  the  Council  in  1865,  that  change  in 
the  character  of  the  police  required  a  change  to  be  made  in  all 
the  police  stations,  except  the  Central  or  First  Station.  "  It 
is,"  he  added,  "absolutely  necessary  for  the  workings  of  the  de- 
partment that  after  a  man  has  been  patroling  for  seven  consecu- 
tive hours  in  the  night  time,  he  should  have  a  proper  place  to 
sleep,  and  in  stormy  weather  a  suitable  mode  of  drying  his 
clothes.  There  should  also  be  at  each  station  two  or  more  cells 
for  the  reception  of  persons  arrested.  All  these  things  are  now 
lacking.  A  single  room  in  each  district,  without  any  ventilation 
other  than  what  the  open  windows  affi^rd,  is  the  only  accommoda- 


64  OUR   POLICE. 

tion  now  furnished  by  the  citj  in  four  of  the  districts."  At  this 
time  the  Central  Station  was  the  only  station  open  in  the  day- 
time, and  the  need  of  having  places  for  the  reception  of  com- 
plaints and  detention  of  prisoners  at  all  hours  in  sections  remote 
from  the  centre,  was  growing  more  obvious  and  imperative. 
Engaged,  however,  in  varied  improvements,  under  the  energetic 
and  comprehensive  leadership  of  the  Mayor,  the  city  could  not, 
or  did  not,  at  once  devote  to  the  advancement  and  development 
of  the  police  system,  all  the  effort  and  expenditure  requisite  to 
bring  it  to  the  highest  standard.  A  brick  station  for  the  Fifth 
District  was  erected  on  Richmond  street,  and  occupied  in  1867, 
very  much  to  the  convenience  of  the  officers  as  well  as  of  citizens 
in  that  neighborhood  of  busy  manufacturing  and  reputable  resi- 
dences. In  speaking  of  the  opening  of  this  station-house.  Mayor 
Doyle  expressed  a  hope  that  changes  would  be  made  in  all  the 
police  buildings,  "so  that  prisoners  might  be  locked  up  without 
having  to  be  carried  one  or  two  miles,  in  many  cases  by  main 
strength,  requiring  two  or  three  men  to  accomplish  an  arrest, 
thus  leaving  their  beats,  in  the  meantime,  entirely  unprotected.'* 

At  the  January  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1866  an 
Act  was  passed  revising  and  amending  the  city  charter.  This 
Act  provided  that  "  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  shall  compose  one 
board,  and  shall  sit  and  act  together  as  one  body  at  all  meetings, 
whereof  the  Mayor  shall  preside,  but  shall  have  no  vote;"  also, 
that  "  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  shall  exercise  the  executive 
powers  of  said  city  generally,  and  the  administration  of  police." 
This  does  not  appear  to  have  been  construed,  for  fully  twenty 
years  later,  as  limiting  the  authority  of  the  Mayor  over  the 
police  force. 

The  new  office  of  Chief  of  Police  having  been  created  and  that 
of  City  Marshal  abolished,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  make  some 
allusion  to  the  career  of  the  last  City  Marshal  of  Providence. 
Thomas  Wilbur  Hart  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Bateman 
Hart,  and  born  at  Warwick  Neck,  Rhode  Island,  June  23, 1822. 
He  was  of  the  seventh  generation  in  descent  from  Nicholas  Hart, 
one  of  the  original  settlers  of  Warwick.  He  attended  the  village 
school  at  his  home  in  Old  Warwick.     When  Thomas  was  nineteen 


OUB    POLICE.  65 

years  of  age  his  father  died,  and  Thomas  moved  to  Newport, 
where  he  was  employed  as  overseer  on  the  farm  of  his  cousin, 
Seth  Bateman.  Later  Mr.  Hart  removed  to  Providence,  where 
he  engaged  in  the  clothing  trade,  and  in  1845  was  appointed  to 
a  position  in  the  State  Prison.  There  he  remained  for  two  years, 
and  was  then  appointed  police  constable.  In  1859  he  was  elected 
City  Marshal,  to  which  oflSce  he  was  annually  re-elected  by 
popular  vote  for  seven  years.  During  his  term  of  office  he  sug- 
gested important  improvements,  such  as  the  building  of  a  House 
of  Correction,  an  increase  of  the  police  force,  the  providing 
cells  at  the  night  stations  for  the  temporary  confinement  of  per- 
sons arrested,  and  the  adoption  of  a  police  uniform.  In  1866 
Mr.  Hart  was  elected  Surveyor  of  Highways,  which  office  he 
retained  until  abolished,  in  1872.  In  1877  he  was  elected  High- 
way Commissioner,  and  held  that  place  until  the  creation  of  the 
Board  of  Public  Works,  in  1880.  In  1866  Mayor  Doyle  ad- 
dressed  Mr.  Hart  as  follows,  in  presence  of  the  Police  Depart- 
ment:  "With  you  originated  the  present  police  organization. 
Your  long  experience  gave  yoi*  an  insight  into  police  details 
which  were  happily  outwrought  in  our  present  efficient  police 
system.  I  only  sought  to  carry  out  your  ideas  to  the  fullest 
practical  extent."  Mr.  Hart  died  March  23,  1882,  and  is 
interred  in  the  old  Arnold  Burying  Ground  in  Pawtuxet.  His 
wife,  Almira  W.  Chapman,  daughter  of  Captain  William  and 
Mary  (Rhodes)  Chapman,  survives  him,  with  three  children. 


OUR   POLICE. 


CE AFTER   V. 

THE  FIRST  CHIEF  OF  POLICE. — SKETCH  OF  GENERAL  NELSON 
VIALL. — A  SOLITARY  YEAR  OF  PROHIBITION  IN  PROVIDENCE. — 
ALBERT  SANFORD,  WILLIAM  KNOWLES,  GROSS,  JOHN  M.  KNOWLES 
AND  AYBR. — INCREASE  OF  THE  FORCE. — CHIEF  AYER  SUC- 
CEEDED BY  CHIEF  HUNT. — CONTEST  FOR  THE  CONTROL  OF  THB 
POLICE. — THB  CHIEF  BECOMES  COMMANDER  OF  THE  FORCE. — 
THE  CHARITY  WOOD-YARD. — MAYOR  HAYWARD  SUCCEEDS  MAYOR 
DOYLE. — MR.  DOYLE  AS  SENATOR  FROM  PROVIDENCE. — ^AGAIN 
ELECTED  MAYOR. — HIS  DEATH. 

General  Nelson  Viall  was  elected  the  first  Chief  of  Police, 
in  June,  1866.  He  has  had  a  career  of  far  more  than  ordinary 
interest.  He  was  one  of  the  few  Rhode  Islanders  who  enlisted 
in  the  Mexican  war,  and  was  twice  promoted  during  that  brief 
and  brilliant  struggle,  for  meritorious  conduct.  At  the  battle  of 
Chapultepec  he  was  wounded  v/hile  ascending  one  of  the  storming 
ladders,  and  he  took  part  in  the  engagement  which  resulted  in 
the  surrender  of  the  City  of  Mexico.  When  the  civil  war  broke 
out  General  Viall  held  a  commission  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  in 
the  Providence  Artillery,  and  in  response  to  the  first  call  of  Gen- 
eral Sprague  he  raised  a  company,  with  which  he  immediately 
proceeded  to  the  defence  of  Washington  under  command  of  Col- 
onel Burnside.  General  Viall  fought  at  Bull  Run,  Yorktown, 
Williamsburg,  Malvern  ,HiIl,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  and 
other  engagements,  and  rose  by  gradual  and  merited  promotion 
to  the  rank  of  Brevet-Brigadier-General.  Genial,  kind-hearted 
and  brave,  to  know  him  is  to  respect  him,  and,  temperate  in  all 
things,  he  has  preserved  his  mental  and  physical  vigor  in  a 
remarkable  degree.  General  Viall  proved  himself  well  fitted 
by  temperament  and  knowledge  of  men  to  be  at  the  head  of 
the  police.  He  did  not  keep  the  ofiice  long,  however,  resign- 
ing in  1867  to  take  charge  of  the  Rhode  Island  State  Prison 


m 


I    J 


G^NEI^AL  NELSON  YlAJaU 


OUR    POLICE.  69 

as  Warden,  which  office  he  occupies  now.  Albert  Sanford  suc- 
ceeded General  Viall  as  chief,  a  man  of  strong  will,  strong 
prejudices,  and  strong  animosities,  but  Twthal,  undoubtedly 
honest  of  purpose,  and  with  useful  and  excellent  ideas  as  to  his 
duties  and  their  performance,  and  sincerely  desirous  of  serving 
the  city  to  the  best  of  his  by  no  means  limited  ability.  He 
could  not  agree  with  Mayor  Doyle.  Their  ideas  came  in  conflict, 
two  earnest  minds  collided,  flint  struck  flint,  and  fire  was  the 
result.  It  happened,  however,  that  the  same  turn  of  the  civic 
wheel  which  dropped  Mr.  Doyle  into  private  life  sent  Mr.  San- 
ford into  obscurity.  Mr.  Doyle  rose  again,  all  the  more  powerful 
for  the  weakness  which  his  rivals  had  displayed  during  the  brief 
eclipse  of  his  political  sun.  Mr.  Sanford  remained  in  unofficial 
existence,  though  his  eagle  eye  is  as  bright  and  his  step  as 
emphatic  as  ever.  Time^  it  may  be  assumed,  has  softened  the 
former  intensity  of  his  feeling,  and  it  may  be,  when  he  thinks 
of  the  departed  Mayor,  the  tribute  of  admiration  is  mingled 
with  the  sigh  of  regret. 

George  L.  Clarke,  an  estimable  business  man,  was  elected 
Mayor  in  1869,  and  William  Knowles  took  Mr.  Sanford's 
place  as  Chief  of  Police.  Mr.  Knowles  was  as  mild-mannered 
and  well-meaning  a  man  as  ever  held  a  public  office,  but  he 
entered  upon  his  duties  at  a  period  of  peculiar  difficulty.  The 
casting  vote  of  Mayor  Clarke  had  made  liquor  selling  unlawful. 
At  that  time,  however,  the  law  provided  no  definite  period 
when  all  liquor  licenses  should  terminate,  and  the  consequence 
was  that  the  large  majority  of  the  dealers  suddenly  found  a  flour- 
ishing business  outlawed,  while  other  and  rival  concerns  still  had 
their  licenses  in  force,  and  were  protected  by  them.  Such  a 
condition  of  afiairs  might  have  confused  a  man  of  bigger  calibre 
than  Chief  William  Knowles.  Besides,  Mr.  Knowles  had  no 
police  experience,  having  been  taken  directly  from  civil  life  to 
be  placed  in  charge  of  a  force  which,  at  that  period  of  all  periods, 
needed  a  leader  with  the  qualifications  which  experience  alone 
could  bestow.  In  June,  1870,  Mr.  William  Knowles  returned  to 
civil  life  with  the  good  wishes  of  everybody.  He  remained  until 
his  death  the  same  amiable  and  eccentric  individual. 


70  OUR    POLICE. 

Thomas  A.  Doyle  stepped  again  into  the  Mayoralty  in  1870. 
Well  does  the  writer  remember  the  confident,  elastic  step  with 
which  the  new  Mayor  strode  up  to  the  chair  in  the  old  City 
Building  to  deliver  his  inaugural  address.  Mayor  Doyle  urged 
that  the  police  force  be  increased  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  men 
from  one  hundred  and  thirteen,  thereby  repeating  a  suggestion 
which  he  had  made  in  1868,  at  the  time  of  the  annexation  of  tiie 
Ninth  Ward.  As  the  ofiice  of  the  Chief  of  Police  had  been  re- 
moved during  the  previous  year  from  the  City  Building  to  the 
Central  Station,  the  Mayor  advised  either  that  the  Chief  of 
Police  be  located  in  the  City  Building,  as  formerly,  or  that  the 
Central  Station  be  connected  with  the  City  Building  by  tele- 
graph. The  latter  course  was  adopted,  headquarters  remaining 
at  the  Central  Station. 

Thomas  J.  A.  Gross  was  elected  Chi^f  of  Police,  June,  1870, 
and  held  that  office  until  his  death.  The  new  Chief  was  a  de- 
voted friend  of  Mayor  Doyle,  and  there  was  never  any  cloud 
between  them.  Mr.  Gross  was  an  experienced  police  officer. 
He  understood  the  men,  and  they  understood  him.  He  knew 
the  criminals  of  the  city,  their  haunts  and  their  habits,  and  he 
was  vigorous  in  compelling  respect  for  the  law.  The  force  was 
increased  to  122  men,  and  no  effort  spared  to  add  to  its  efficiency. 

Chief  Gross  was  re-elected  in  1871.  Mayor  Doyle,  in  his 
inaugural  of  that  year,  presented  a  startling  picture  of  the  con- 
dition of  morals  among  the  young.  He  said  :  "  The  number  of 
young  girls,  from  twelve  yeajrs  of  age  and  upwards,  allowed  to 
promenade  our  principal  thoroughfares  in  the  evening,  has  in- 
creased to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  alarming  to  the  thinking  por- 
tion of  the  community.  Why  the  parents  of  these  girls  allow 
the  liberty  they  do  is  a  mystery  to  the  Police  Department.  I 
regret  to  say  that  in  many  instances  where  girls  have  been  ordered 
to  their  homes  by  the  police  in  consequence  of  their  conduct, 
though  not  absolutely  lewd,  yet  rapidly  approaching  it,  the  police 
have  been  rebuked  for  their  interference  by  the  parents,  who  pro- 
fess' to  believei  the  statement  of  their  daughters  in  preference  to 
that  of  the  officers.  The  conduct  of  these  young  promenaders 
on  Westminster  street,  became  so  bad  on  Sunday  evenings,  the 


ALBERT  SANFORP. 


OUR   POLICE.  73 

last  autumn,  that  a  very  large  detail  of  police  was  required  to 
preserve  even  decent  order  on  the  street.  The  public  street  and 
the  night-time  have  not  usually  been  deemed  the  proper  place 
and  season  for  the  right  education  of  youth  of  either  sex,  and 
certainly  we  may  expect  a  decline  in  morality,  when  girls,  in  par- 
ticular, obtain  their  education  then  and  there."  The  Mayor  sug- 
gested that  a  truant  law  might  help  to  remedy  the  evil.  He  also 
urged  that  all  the  police  stations  be  kept  open  in  the  day  time. 

Chief  of  Police  Gross  died  in  office  August  2,  1871a  and  Cap- 
tain John  M.  Knowles  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  No  better 
choice  could  have  been  made.  As  watchman  on  the  old  force,  as 
patrolman,  detective,  and  captain,  Mr.  Knowles  had  performed 
every  duty  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public  and  of  his  superiors. 
A  quiet  man,  sound  in  judgment,  determined  and  cautious  in 
action,  he  was  always  prompt,  yet  never  hasty ;  always  firm,  but 
never  harsh.  Like  the  present  chief,  he  believed  that  a  warning 
might  sometimes  go  ftirther  than  a  warrant,  and  that  the  goad 
should  not  be  used  till  kindness  had  been  tried.  His  sterling 
honesty  shone  in  his  features  and  impressed  every  observer. 
Meanness  and  trickery  were  as  foreign  to  his  nature  as  cowardice, 
and  temptation  appealed  in  vain  to  one  whose  virtue  was  impreg- 
nable. We  use  the  past  tense — but  John  M.  Knowles  still  lives, 
the  worthy  superintendent  of  the  Dexter  Asylum,  showing  in  his 
well-knit,  hearty  frame,  that  not  one  year  of  his  ripened  life  was 
ever  mortgaged  to  vicious  indulgence. 

In  August,  of  the  same  year,  1871,  the  police  ordinance  was 
amended,  so  as  to  increase  the  force  from  125  to  150  men,  and 
the  Third,  Fourth,  and  Fifth  Stations  were  opened  for  day  ser- 
vice, the  actual  increase  of  the  force  being  to  143  men,  although 
additional  appointments  soon  after  followed.  This  year,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  recommendation  made  by  the  Mayor  in  1870, 
telegraphic  communication  was  established  between  the  Mayor's 
office  and  the  Central  Station.  This  enabled  the  Mayor  to  ex- 
ercise an  immediate  and  direct  control  over  the  movements  of 
the  police,  and  to  concentrate  a  force  of  men  at  any  point  deemed 
necessary. 

The  attention  of  the  City  Council  was  again  called,  in  1872, 


74  OUR   POLICE. 

by  the  Mayor  to  the  need  of  a  new  station-house  in  the  Second 
District,  and  the  miserable  character  of  the  quarters  provided  for 
the  police  in  that  part  of  the  city.  The  necessity  was  pointed  out 
likewise  for  improvements  at  the  Central  Station,  three  and  four 
persons  being  often  locked  up  in  the  same  cell,  the  heating  appa- 
ratus being  defective,  and  the  ventilation  insufficient.  The  re- 
quired alterations  were  carried  out  as  far  as  possible.  In  this 
year  Boston  was  visited  by  the  unprecedented  calamity  which 
laid  a  large  region  of  that  city  in  ruins.  A  detail  of  police  was 
sent  from  Providence  to  aid  in  protecting  property,  and  remained 
on  duty  for  several  days,  the  men  who  remained  at  home  doing 
extra  duty  during  that  period.  The  Providence  officers  per- 
formed the  responsible  work  assigned  to  them  to  the  entire  satis- 
faction of  the  Boston  authorities,  receiving  marked  attention  and 
strong  commendation.  The  police  also  assisted  the  North  Provi- 
dence officials  in  the  preservation  of  order  during  a  strike  which 
threatened  to  become  serious. 

The  annexation  of  an  extensive  section  of  North  Providence  to 
the  city  rendered  imperative  a  considerable  increase  of  the  force. 
The  area  annexed  was  larger  than  the  original  area  of  the  city 
before  the  addition  of  the  Ninth  Ward,  and  Providence,  with  the 
new  territory,  was  over  fifteen  square  miles  in  extent.  In  this 
district,  on  Gapron  street,  was  a  one-story  wooden  building, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  police  station  by  the  town  of  North 
Providence.  This  building  was  taken  by  the  city  as  a  sub-station 
for  the  Fourth  District,  and  Roundsman  Egan  was  placed  in 
charge  with  seven  patrolmen.  The  city  also  took  possession  of  the 
little  voting-place  and  lock-up  on  Branch  avenue,  near  Charles 
street,  using  it,  however,  only  for  the  brief  detention  of  prisoners. 
The  police  force  was  increased  to  one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  of  a 
possible  one  hundred  and  ninety  men,  and  an  effort  made  to  pa- 
trol the  new  territory,  much  of  it  farming  land  and  forests. 

On  January  4,  1875,  an  ordinance  was  passed  authorizing  the 
Mayor  to  appoint  a  Deputy  Chief  of  Police,  seven  captains,  and 
seven  sergeants,  instead  of  one  captain  and  five  sergeants.  The 
Mayor  promoted  Captain  William  H.  Ayer  to  be  deputy  chief, 
his  duties  being  to  act  as  Chief  of  Police,  in  the  absence  of  the 


JOHN  M.  KNOWLES. 


c    « 


OUll   POLICE.  77 

Chief,  and  to  assist  the  Chief  in  his  duties.  Sergeants  James  W, 
Sanders,  Benjamin  A.  Newhall,  Joseph  Marston,  James  H.  War- 
ner and  William  L.  Roberts  were  at  the  same  time  appointed 
captains  of  police.  Roundsmen  John  T.  Brown,  William  H. 
Cory,  Nahum  Willard,  Benjamin  F.  Payne,  Theodore  Ruther- 
ford, Patrick  Egan,  and  day  patrolman  Andrew  McKenzie  were 
appointed  sergeants.  These  officers  were  assigned  to  duty  as  fol- 
lows ;  The  Deputy  Chief  of  Police  to  the  Chief's  office ;  Captain 
Joseph  Marston  and  Sergeants  Payne  and  Willard,  to  command 
at  Central  Station ;  Captain  Newhall  and  Sergeant  Rutherford, 
to  the  Second  Station ;  Captain  Roberts  and  Sergeant  McKenzie, 
to  the  Third  Station ;  Captain  Warner  and  Sergeants  Cory  and 
Egan,  to  the  Fourth  and  Olney ville  (now  Sixth)  Stations ;  Cap- 
tain Sanders  and  Sergeant  Brown,  to  the  Fifth  Station.  Five 
men  from  the  patrol  were  detailed  to  act  as  roundsmen,  on'e  at 
each  station,  and  the  force  was  increased  to  the  complement  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety  men,  allowed  by  ordinance.  Telegraphic 
connection  was  established  between  all  the  stations,  except  that 
at  Olneyville,  and,  in  addition  to  a  large  amount  of  extra  duty, 
the  men  were  required  to  meet  once  a  week  for  drill.  Mayor 
Doyle  complained  to  the  City  Council,  in  1875,  that  even  one 
hundred  and  ninety  men  were  not  sufficient  for  the  task  required, 
and  he  intimated  that  the  police  were  over- worked,  and  especially 
the  night  patrolmen. 

By  a  resolution  of  the  City  Council,  approved  February  25, 
1875,  plans  were  adopted  and  an  appropriation  made  for  the 
erection  of  a  building  on  Wickenden  street,  to  be  used  by  the 
Fire  and  Police  Departments.  On  the  ninth  of  May,  in  the 
same  year,  the  main  building  of  the  Fourth  District  Police 
Station,  on  Knight  street,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  caused  by  light- 
ning, and  the  City  Council  ordered  the  station  rebuilt  and  en- 
larged. The  police  building  on  Richmond  street  was  improved 
by  taking  a  portion  of  the  ward-room  in  the  second  story  for 
sleeping  rooms,  and  the  City  Council  in  May  also  directed  the 
purchase  of  a  site  for  a  police  station  in  the  Second  District,  at 
the  junction  of  Martin  (now  Chalkstone  avenue)  Tremont,  and 
Ashburton  streets.     The  buildings  in  the  Third   and   Second 


78  OUR   POLICE. 

Districts  were  completed  in  the  following  year,  1876,  that  on 
Wickenden  street  being  occupied  jointly  as  a  Fire  Department 
Station.  In  the  Second  District,  the  police  occupied  a  dwelling 
house  at  No.  11  Martin  street  for  several  months,  while  the  new 
station  was  being  completed.  The  old  station  on  Mill  street  was 
abandoned  to  the  Fire  Department.  In  this  year,  also,  the 
Olneyville  Station  was  separated  from  the  Fourth,  and  called  the 
Sixth  District. 

Mayor  Doyle,  in  1877,  recommended  the  organization  of  a 
rifle  company  of  sixty  men  from  the  police  force  for  service  in 
case  of  a  formidable  tumult  or  riot.  "  Such  a  company,"  he 
said,  "  well-drilled  and  properly  armed,  would  be  sufficient  to 
suppress  any  outbreak  that  might  be  attempted."  The  Council 
did  not  take  kindly  to  the  proposition  to  convert  the  police  into  a 
military  organization,  and,  although  the  Mayor  urged  the  subject 
upon  their  attention  in  a  subsequent  inaugural,  and  quoted  the 
railroad  riots  which  had  desolated  Pittsburgh,  and  converted  order 
into  anarchy  in  more  than  one  sovereign  State,  as  evidence  of  the 
need  for  some  safeguard  such  as  a  police  rifle  corps,  no  action  ap- 
pears to  have  been  taken  on  the  subject.  The  police  of  Providence 
are  doubtless  capable  of  dealing  with  any  emergency,  without  mak- 
ing them,  as  in  certain  parts  of  Europe,  a  band  of  armed  soldiery. 

Chief  of  Police  John  M.  Knowles,  resigned  his  office,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1877,  to  accept  an  appointment  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Dexter  Asyhim,  and  Mayor  Doyle  truly  said  of  him  that 
"  his  promotions  were  won  by  diligent  courtesy,  and  strict  atten- 
tion to  duty,  and  the  same  characteristics  marked  his  administra- 
tion of  the  difficult  office  of  Chief  of  Police."  Deputy  Chief 
William  H.  Ayer  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Chief,  made 
vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Knowles.  Mr.  Ayer  was  born 
in  1839,  in  this  city,  and  was  appointed  night  patrolman  at  the 
Fourth  Station,  June  10,  1865,  when  only  twenty-six  years  old. 
A  year  and  a  half  later  he  was  assigned  to  the  day  force,  and 
patrolled  South  Main  and  South  Water  streets  for  about  twelve 
months.  He  was  then  detailed  for  special  duty  at  the  City  Build- 
ing and  elsewhere,  including  a  few  months'  service  as  Warrant 
Officer,  and  was  appointed  Police  Clerk,  January  15,  1868.     In 


OUR   POLICE.  79 

August,  1871,  he  was  appointed  Deputy  Chief.  Mr.  Ayer  was 
noted  for  his  reticence ;  but  no  one  ever  had  to  complain  of  dis- 
courtesy. He  understood  his  duties  fully  and  performed  them 
faithfully.  While  not  a  brilliant  man,  he  possessed  that  whole- 
some sense  and  ready  discernment  which  are  to  '  be  preferred  to 
erratic  brilliancy  in  the  practical  walks  of  life.  Mr.  Ayer  was 
justly  popular  among  the  respectable  portion  of  the  community, 
and  he  justified  the  confidence  exhibited  in  his  promotion  to  the 
command  of  the  police. 

Chief  Ayer  was  the  first  to  occupy  the  convenient  headquarters 
in  that  magnificent  structure,  the  new  City  Hall,  where  his  pic- 
ture now  looks  down  from  the  wall  of  the  outer  office. 

"Warrant  Officer  Charles  H.  Hunt,  was  elected  Chief  of  Po- 
lice to  take  the  place  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Chief  Ayer 
on  May  4,  1879.  Mr.  Hunt  is  a  native  of  Providence,  born 
January  5,  1842,  and  was  appointed  on  the  force  December  20, 
1864.  He  began  duty  as  a  night  patrolman  from  the  Central 
Station.  Ex-Chief  Hunt  has  an  honorable  record  of  army 
service,  having  been  a  private  in  the  Fourth  Rhode  Island 
Regiment,  and  promoted  for  brave  and  faithful  conduct  to  lieu- 
tenant and  acting  commander  of  a  company.  He  was  in  the 
battle  of  Roanoke,  when  the  Rhode  Island  troops  acquitted  them- 
selves so  gallantly  under  grand  old  Burnside ;  and  also  at  Fred- 
ericksburg, South  Mountain,  Antietam,  and  other  scenes  made 
memorable  in  the  war  for  the  Union.  He  has  a  keen  observant 
eye,  a  remarkable  memory  of  faces,  is  powerful  and  agile  in  build, 
and  positive  and  energetic  in  character. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  Mr.  Hunt's  earlier  service  on  the  police. 
The  second  night  after  his  appointment  it  became  his  duty,  with 
his  partner,  Daniel  Hill,  to  extinguish  the  lights  on  their  East- 
side  beat.  They  separated  at  a  comer  and  went  in  opposite 
directions,  agreeing  to  meet  at  a  point  near  the  river  when  they 
had  finished  putting  out  the  lights.  Among  the  street  lamps  on 
Mr.  Hunt's  route  were  forty  or  fifty  of  the  fluid  kind,  which  were 
expected  to  extinguish  themselves.  Mr.  Hunt,  however,  thought 
it  his  duty  to  put  out  every  lamp  along  his  path,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  climb  up  the  posts  and  blow  and  blow  until  the  flicker- 


80  OUR   POLICE. 

ing  flame  had  subsided.  It  was  tiresome  work ;  likewise  warm. 
Mr.  Hunt  was  closely  muffled  from  the  weather,  but  soon  found 
his  extra  wrappings  superfluous.  The  perspiration  streamed 
from  his  face,  and  trickled  to  his  boots,  but  he  kept  manfully  at 
his  task  until  he  had  climbed  every  pole,  and  blown  out  every 
light.  When  he  reached  the  place  of  meeting  his  partner  had 
gone.  Mr.  Hunt  made  his  way  to  the  station-house,  thereby 
relieving  the  anxiety  of  his  partner  and  the  other  officers,  who 
thought  something  had  happened  to  him.  When  asked  where  in 
the  name  of  wonder  he  had  been,  Mr.  Hunt  frankly  replied  that 
"clambering  the  forty  or  fifty  lamp-posts  was  no  easy  job." 
"  What — you  didn't  climb  the  posts  and  blow  out  those  fluid 
lights,  did  you,  Charley  ?" — and  it  was  some  time  before  the  gen- 
eral gufiaw  subsided.  The  new  member  was  then  informed  that 
the  fluid  lamps  were  replenished  each  night,  and  left  to  go  out 
themselves. 

But  the  same  spirit  which  prompted  the  young  patrolman  not 
to  neglect  the  fluid  lamps  was  with  him  in  more  responsible 
capacities.  As  a  warrant  officer  he  was  vigilant  without  being 
severe,  and  the  prisoners  entrusted  to  his  care  were  faithfully 
delivered  at  their  place  of  destination.  As  Chief  of  Police  he 
was  not  satisfied  with  following  in  established  ruts,  but  suggested, 
and  carried  into  effect,  when  adopted,  any  reform  likely  to 
improve  the  efficiency  of  the  department  and  advance  the  inter- 
ests of  the  city.  Upon  his  recommendation  a  portion  of  the  force 
was  detailed  as  a  mounted  patrol,  enabling  large  districts  of  the 
city  to  be  more  frequently  visited  by  an  officer  than  would  have 
been  possible  with  only  a  foot  patrol.  A  police  ambulance  of 
the  most  approved  pattern  was  purchased,  and  the  subject  of  the 
appointment  of  a  matron  to  search  and  attend  upon  female  pris- 
oners at  the  Central  Station  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
City  Council.  It  was  a  reform  dictated  by  humanity  and  de- 
cency, and  also  in  the  interests  of  public  justice. 

By  an  amendment  to  the  police  ordinance,  approved  July  21, 
1879,  an  alteration  was  made  in  the  rank  of  the  officers  of  the 
force,  sergeants  being  changed  to  lieutenants,  and  roundsmen  to 
sergeants,  the  office  of  roundsman  being  abolished.     Prior  to  the 


OUR   POLICE.  81 

change  two  roundsmen  were  assigned  to  each  police  district,  ex- 
cept the  Sixth,  and  after  the  change,  two  sergeants  were  assigned 
to  the  First  District,  and  one  to  each  of  the  others.  Telephones 
were  substituted  for  telegraph  instruments,  and  the  five  men  en- 
gaged in  telegrapTi  duty  were  added  to  the  patrol  service.  Two 
boys  were  appointed  as  messengers,  one  in  the  Mayor's  office, 
and  the  other  in  the  office  of  the  Chief.  The  Olneyville,  or 
Sixth  Station,  was  opened  for  day  as  well  as  night  service,  all 
the  stations  being  now  open  day  and  night. 

But  the  most  notable  event  of  Chief  Hunt's  official  career,  was 
the  withdrawal  of  the  control  of  the  police  force  from  the  Mayor, 
and  the  elevation  of  the  Chief  to  the  real,  as  well  as  nominal,  com- 
mand. For  years  the  sentiment  had  been  growing  among  our 
citizens  that  Mayor  Doyle  possessed  too  autocratic  authority  for 
the  chief  magistrate  of  a  free,  self-governing  municipality.  That 
he  exercised  his  authority  in  an  autocratic  manner  some  asserted ; 
others  denied.  In  public  life  from  his  youth  up,  and  Mayor  for 
fifteen  years,  he  could  not  have  failed,  however  near  to  perfection 
as  a  man  and  an  official,  to  make  many  enemies.  The  ap- 
pointments of  the  city  were  understood  to  be  in  his  gift,  and 
every  disappointed  applicant  for  favor  and  office  might  be  counted 
as  his  opponent.  On  the  other  hand,  many  men  who  cared  not  a 
fig  for  office,  and  were  solely  actuated  by  a  jealous  regard  for  the 
city's  honor  and  their  own  rights  and  liberties,  sincerely  believed 
that  the  Mayor's  power  should  be  checked,  and  that  the  police 
should  not  be  "  removable  at  his  pleasure,"  as  he  worded  it  in  one 
of  his  inaugural  addresses.  Gradually  the  advocates  of  this 
opinion  gained  a  majority  of  the  City  Council.  The  Aldermen, 
determined  to  maintain  their  rights,  as  successors  to  the  ancient 
police  jurisdiction  of  the  Town  Council,  refused  to  consent  to  the 
Mayor's  nominations  for  the  police,  and  the  Mayor's  bitter  com- 
plaint that  the  efficiency  of  the  force  was  being  impaired  passed 
unheeded. 

At  length,  in  March,  1880,  a  joint  resolution  was  intro- 
duced in  the  Common  Council,  and  adopted  there  and  by  the 
Aldermen,  asking  for  an  amendment  to  the  charter  of  the  city, 
substantially  transferring  to  the  Chief  of  Police  the  power  to 


82  OUR   POLICE. 

remove  members  of  the  force,  with  the  consent  of  the  Mayor,  or, 
if  the  Mayor's  consent  could  not  be  obtained,  with  that  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  Mayor  Doyle  protested,  first  verbally,  and 
then  by  a  veto,  giving  his  reasons  in  the  following  forcible 
language : 

"  The  legislation  thus  asked  for  is  of  more  importance  to  the 
people  of  this  city  than  any  which  has  been  attempted  since  its 
incorporation,  for  it  proposes  to  confer  upon  the  office  of  public 
prosecutor  extraordinary  and  arbitrary  powers,  not,  so  far  as  I 
am  informed,  before  conferred  upon  a  Chief  or  Superintendent  of 
Police  in  this  country,  and  which  are  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  principles  of  a  free  government ;  a  power  which,  in  the  hands 
of  an  ambitious  man,  may  be  exercised  to  an  extent  dangerous  to 
the  rights  of  the  citizen. 

"  Under  the  new  legislation  the  Chief  of  Police  can  direct  the 
force  at  his  own  will  and  pleasure,  subject  only  to  the  supervision 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and,  however  important  this  over- 
sight may  be  in  theory,  as  a  matter  of  practice  it  will  be  of  little 
or  no  consequence ;  while,  under  the  law  as  it  noT^  exists,  the 
Chief  Executive  has  daily  information  of  the  movements  of  the 
force,  and  may  obtain  his  knowledge  entirely  independent  of  the 
Chief,  a  check  salutary  in  its  operation,  and  most  necessary  to 
the  citizen. 

"  The  charter  of  this  city,  in  defining  the  duties  of  the  Mayor, 
is  almost  a  literal  copy  of  the  charter  of  the  City  of  Boston.  In 
the  latter  city,  when  the  power  of  appointing  and  removing  ,the 
police  was  talfen  from  the  Mayor,  it  was  conferred  upon  three 
commissioners,  but  his  authority  as  Chief  Executive  was  preserved 
in  the  Act  providing  for  the  commission,  by  giving  to  him  the 
right  to  nominate  the  commissioners,  and  to  remove  them  from 
office  for  cause.  Furthermore,  his  approval  is  required  to  the 
appointment  of  Superintendent  and  Deputy  Superintendent  and 
Captains  of  Police,  and  in  any  emergency,  of  which  he  is  judge, 
he  may  take  command  of  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  force. 

"  Contrast  this  legislation  with  that  proposed  for  this  city,  and 
note  the  difference :  the  Mayor  of  Boston  is  still  the  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive Officer  of  that  city,  while  in  Providence  it  is  proposed 


CHARLES  H.  HUNT. 


t        c  t      «        • 


OUR    POLICE.  85 

that  the  important  obligations  of  the  city  charter  shall  continue 
to  rest  upon  the  Mayor,  without,  however,  the  power  to  enforce 
the  authority  of  his  office. 

"  The  Mayor  of  Providence,  elected  by  the  general  voters,  is 
declared  by  the  city  charter  '  to  be  the  Chief  Executive  Officer 
thereof,'  and  is  required  Ho  be,  at  all  times,  vigilant  and  active  in 
causing  the  laws  to  be  executed  and  enforced,'  and  '  to  inspect 
the  conduct  of  subordinate  officers,  and  cause  all  negligence, 
carelessness  and  violation  of  duty  to  be  duly  prosecuted  and 
punished.'  This  officer,  it  is  intended  by  the  City  Council,  shall 
hereafter  be,  in  fact,  subordinate  to  an  officer  of  its  own  appoint- 
ment, while  the  members  of  the  City  Council  are  elected  by  a 
limited  class  of  voters.  If  this  proposed  legislation  is  to  be 
enacted,  the  appointment  or  election  of  Chief  of  Police  should 
also  be  changed  and  brought  nearer  to  the  general  voters. 

"  Since  the  first  inauguration  of  Mayor  Smith  the  police  have 
been  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen.  The  new  legislation  proposes  that  the  Chief  of 
Police  shall  henceforth  make  the  appointments,  with  the  consent 
of  the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen.  It  would  be  better  for 
the  city  as  well  as  for  the  Mayor,  if  this  new  policy  is  to  be 
adopted,  that  the  sole  responsibility  should  rest  upon  the  Chief  of 
Police  and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  inasmuch  as  the  only  power 
the  Mayor  can  exercise  is  to  object  to  an  appointment. 

"  Removals  from  the  police  are  now  made  by  the  Mayor, 
*  whenever,  in  his  opinion,  the  interests  of  the  city  shall  require 
such  removal.'  It  is  proposed  that  hereafter  such  removals  shall 
be  made  by  the  Chief  of  Police :  'Provided,  however,  Such 
removal  shall  not  be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  Mayor  of 
said  city,  or  in  case  the  Mayor  shall  refuse  to  give  his  consent 
to  such  removal,  then  said  removal  may  be  made  by  said  Chief  of 
Police,  by  and  with  the  consent  or  approval  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen.'  If  the  change  in  the  law  shall  be  made,  the  Mayor 
can  only  obtain  information  as  to  the  movements  of  the  force, 
and  reasons  for  removal,  from  the  Chief  of  Police  or  Board  of 
Aldermen,  and  he  would,  therefore,  be  unfitted  to  act  impartially 
upon  the  removal  of  a  member  of  the  force.     Should  he  seek 


Si)  OUR   POLICE. 

information  from  such  member,  or  from  any  of  the  subordinate 
officers,  or  any  member  of  the  force,  it  might  be  deemed  an  ob- 
trusive interference  with  the  powers  of  the  Chief,  and  certainly 
any  voluntary  information  to  the  Mayor  from  such  persons,  ex- 
cept through  the  Chief,  would  be  deemed  an  act  of  insubordina- 
tion, and  subversive  of  the  discipline,  which  it  is  the  object  of  the 
proposed  legislation  to  secure. 

"  Had  the  City  Council  only  contemplated  such  changes  in  the 
organization  of  the  police  force  as  would  not  have  conflicted  with 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  imposed  upon  me  by  my  oath  of 
office,  I  would  cheerfully  have  assented  thereto.  The  appoint- 
ment and  removal  of  members  of  the  police  is  not  a  privilege  to 
be  sought,  but  is  a  responsibility  devolving  upon  me  by  law  and 
"by  the  votes  of  the  people,  and  is  so  connected  with  the  rights  of 
the  people  that  I  cannot  surrender  it  without  a  protest." 

The  veto  was  over-ridden,  virtually  without  a  supporter,  and 
the  desires  of  the  Council  were  presented  to  the  General  Assem- 
Hy.  There  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House  gave  a  hear- 
ing, at  which  Mayor  Doyle  appeared.  He  opposed  the  measure 
asked  for  by  the  city's  representatives,  and  not  without  effect, 
for  a  majority  of  the  Committee,  represented  by  the  chairman, 
ox- Congressman  William  P.  Sheffield,  of  Newport,  afterward 
United  States  Senator,  reported  adversely.  Ex-Congressman 
Benjamin  T.  Eames,  of  Providence,  on  the  other  hand,  offered 
a  minority  report  in  favor  of  the  Council's  request,  and  the  result, 
after  much  discussion,  was  the  passage,  in  Senate  and  House,  of 
the  following  act : 

Section  1.  The  police  constables  and  city  watchmen  of  the 
City  of  Providence  shall  hereafter  be  appointed  by  the  Chief  of 
Police  of  said  city,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen. 

Sect.  2.  The  Chief  of  Police  of  said  city,  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  shall  have  power  to  remove 
any  of  said  officers  from  office,  whenever,  in  his  opinion,  the 
interests  of  said  city  shall  require  such  removals. 

Sect.  8.  The  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Providence  shall  have  the 
power  in  any  emergency,  of  which  he  shall  be  the  judge,  to  take 


OUR   POLICE.  87 

full  charge  of  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  police  force  in  S"aid 
citj. 

Chief  Hunt  did  not  abuse  the  power  thus  conferred  upon  him. 
He  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Chief  in  a  manner  that 
alleviated  disquietude — if  any  was  felt — as  to  the  possibility  that 
the  new  authority  might  be  abused.  On  November  1st,  1880, 
he  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  the  State 
Institutions  at  Cranston.  Deputy  Chief  Brown  was  elected  to 
the  office  of  Chief,  but  declined  to  serve.  Captain  Benjamin  H. 
Child,  of  the  Fifth  District,  was  elected  Chief  of  Police,  and  con- 
tinues in  office. 

One  of  the  early  acts  of  Chief  Child's  administration,  and 
which  may  be  properly  noticed  here,  as  it  was  but  the  consum- 
mation of  a  reform  begun  under  his  predecessor,  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  matron  at  the  Central  Station.  On  the  first  of  March, 
1881,  Mrs.  Celia  Olney  was  employed  as  matron  at  an  expense 
of  ?45  per  month,  her  husband  being  also  engaged  as  janitor  at 
$40  a  month.  They  occupy  rooms  on  the  premises  set  apart  for 
their  exclusive  use,  and  by  their  joint  labor  the  station-house  has 
been  as  well  cared  for  as  at  any  previous  time,  and  at  a  much 
less  expense.  All  the  female  prisoners  who  are  brought  to  this 
station  are  immediately  placed  in  the  charge  of  the  matron,  and 
remain  under  her  care  until  they  are  either  discharged  or  com- 
mitted to  the  State  Institutions.  Her  care  includes  the  charge  of 
the  female  prisoners*  dock  during  trials  before  the  Police  and 
Justice  Courts.  She  searches  all  such  female  prisoners  as  are 
suspected  of  having  stolen  property  in  their  possession,  a  duty 
which  had  always  been  performed  by  such  women  as  were  avail- 
able for  the  purpose.  A  large  number  of  insane  women  are 
brought  to  this  station  to  await  transportation  to  hospitals  in 
difi*erent  sections,  and  the  propriety  of  having  one  of  their  own 
sex  to  care  for  them  will  not  be  disputed. 

Another  reform,  initiated  independently  of  the  police,  but 
bearing  a  close  relation  to  their  duties  and  responsibilities,  was 
in  the  treatment  of  the  transient  poor.  Thanks  to  the  munifi- 
cence of  Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter,  the  City  of  Providence  is 
relieved  of  much  of  the  burden  of  caring  for  those  unfortunates 


88  OUR   POLICE. 

who,  the  Master  has  said,  are  always  with  us.  Providence  has 
also  been  fortunate  in  having  the  services,  as  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Charity,  of  Mr.  George  W.  Wightman,  a  veteran  at 
whose  hands  the  interests  of  taxpayers  are  never  likely  to  suffer. 
Mr.  Wightman  is  seldom  deceived  in  the  character  of  an  applicant 
for  relief.  It  is  true  that  on  one  occasion  he  handed  a  dollar  to 
a  woman  who  pleaded  hunger  and  the  chilling  April  blast,  and 
that  she  forthwith  went  down  stairs  to  the  police  office,  added 
fifteen  cents  to  the  dollar,  and  paid  a  dog  license.  But  this  was 
only  once.  As  a  rule,  Mr.  Wightman  can  always  tell  the  de- 
serving from  an  impostor,  and  while  he  has  scant  sympathy  for 
the  latter  he  does  not  allow  the  former  to  starve.  He  knows 
the  paupers  not  only  of  the  present,  but  of  a  past  generation, 
and  could  give  some  interesting  points  on  heredity.  To  Mr. 
Wightman  is  due  the  credit  of  inventing  a  method  for  compelling 
tramps  to  work.  It  has  made  Providence  unpopular  among  the 
tramps,  but  the  residents  of  Providence  can  stand  it,  if  the  gipsy 
gentry  are  able  to. 

In  May,  1878,  an  important  change  was  made  in  the  mode  of 
furnishing  relief  to  out-door  applicants,  which  embraced  the  fol- 
lowing points :  first,  a  building  was  leased  as  the  headquarters  of 
the  Poor  Department,  and  called  the  "  Charity  Building,"  which 
contains  the  office  of  the  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  rooms  for  the 
temporary  accommodation  of  women  and  children  who  have  no 
place  of  refuge  in  this  city,  and  a  room  for  feeding  such  tramps 
as  have  earned  their  meals  by  work,  and  men  who  are  working 
for  the  department  who  belong  to  the  class  of  out-door  poor. 
Second,  a  portion  of  the  Cove  lands  were  enclosed  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  is  known  as  "  The  Charity  Wood-yard,"  where  persons 
lodged  in  the  Central  Police  Station,  tramps  and  able-bodied  men 
applying  for  aid  for  themselves  or  families  are  required  to  work 
in  sawing  or  splitting  wood,  at  a  rate  of  compensation  per  day 
fixed  by  the  Overseer  of  the  Poor.  Of  lodgers  and  tramps  a 
certain  amount  of  work  is  required  as  payment  for  the  lodging 
or  meals ;  and  no  lodgers  are  accommodated  at  any  police  station 
except  the  Central. 

The  effect  of  the  change  in  the  system  was  speedily  shown. 


OUR   POLICE.  89 

The  regular  tramp  learned  to  avoid  Providence  and  its  wood- 
yard  ;  the  honest  poor  man,  on  the  other  hand,  was  glad  to  pre- 
serve his  self-respect  by  giving  an  equivalent  for  assistance.  The 
number  of  poor  persons  assisted  by  the  Overseer  of  the  Poor  in 
1877,  was  5,535;  in  1878,  4,276,  and  in  1879,  2,571.  Of 
course,  other  causes  were,  no  doubt,  in  part  responsible  for  the 
decrease  of  pauperism,  but  the  wood-yard  was  undoubtedly  the 
principal  factor.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  lodgers  is  a 
striking  evidence  of  this.  In  1877,  before  the  wood-yard, 
12,010  males  and  122  females  were  given  lodgings  at  the  police 
stations,  and  in  1879,  after  the  wood-yard  had  been  established, 
the  number  of  lodgers  diminished  to  1,841  males  and  31  fe- 
males. In  his  report  for  1886,  when  1,886  men  were  sent 
from  the  station-house  to  work  in  the  yard,  Overseer  Wightman 
says  "that  the  great  bulk  of  them  are  honest  laboring  men." 
"In  a  previous  year  (1884)  he  stated:  "most  of  them  have 
worked  willingly,  and  many  of  them  have  expressed  much  thank- 
fulness that  by  work  they  could  satisfy  their  hunger.  Nearly 
all  trades  and  occupations  have  been  represented."  In  the  same 
report  he  said:  "the  wood-yard  was  opened  nearly  seven  years 
ago,  and  at  once  the  expenditures  for  out  door  relief  dropped 
from  ?26,452.32  in  1877  to  $6,022.70  in  1884,  with  no  essential 
change  in  business  for  the  better." 

The  administration  of  Chief  Child  is  more  fiiUy  treated  of  in 
a  subsequent  chapter.  It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  in  1885 
fifteen  men  were  added  to  the  force,  which  now  numbers  two 
hundred,  and  that  even  that  number  is  insufficient  to  patrol  the 
streets  and  highways  of  a  city  which  is  growing,  with  a  steady 
and  healthy  growth,  in  every  direction,  and  especially  that  which 
the  poet  has  said  is  the  course  of  empire.  The  new  station  in 
the  Fifth  District,  at  Plain  and  Borden  streets,  was  finished  and 
occupied,  October  5,  1886.  It  has  superior  appointments  and 
accommodations  for  the  officers,  and  will  compare  favorably  with 
any  police  station  in  New  England.  A  new  system  of  ventila- 
tion, introduced  for  the  first  time  in  this  structure,  is  perfect  in 
its  operations.  Another  valuable  feature,  never  before  adopted 
in  this  vicinity,  is  the  isolation  of  the  cell  room  from  the  main 


90  OUR   POLICE. 

portion  of  the  building,  an  improvement  urgently  recommended 
bj  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Palmer,  the  Acting  Surgeon  of  Police,  in  his  re- 
port of  1884.  Dr.  Palmer  then  said  :  "  Repainting  and  refurnish- 
ing, and  improved  ventilation  may  perhaps  render  infected 
buildings  more  tolerable,  but  cannot  make  the  inherent  poisons 
materially  less  infectious  or  less  dangerous  to  health  and  life.  That 
this  poison  exists  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  all  the  stations  is 
established  in  the  fact  that  most  of  the  sickness  of  the  force,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  especially  of  officers  confined  to  the  stations, 
was,  in  my  opinion,  due  to  a  miasmatic  cause.  A  fundamental 
error  in  the  construction  of  police  stations  is  in  making  the  cell- 
rooms  a  part  of  the  building ;  but  this  error  is  greatest  where  the 
cells  are  in  the  basement,  as  they  are  in  the  Second  and  Sixth 
Stations.  Cell-rooms  in  daily  use  for  temporary  detention  of  dis- 
eased and  uncleanly  prisoners,  soon  become  the  sources  of  conta- 
gion by  disease  germs  that  the  best  ventilation,  constant  irrigation, 
and  daily  disinfection  cannot  wholly  destroy.  From  these  sources 
the  disease  germs  are  disseminated  through  the  stations,  and  es- 
pecially find  lodgment  in  the  impure  air  and  walls  of  the  officers' 
business,  sitting  and  sleeping  rooms.  To  avoid  this,  in  the  future 
construction  of  police  stations,  the  cell-room  should  be  an  annex, 
with  air-space  between  it  and  the  main  building.  This  space 
need  only  be  a  step  in  distance,  but  it  should  be  an  out-door  step, 
or  through  a  corridor,  which  corridor,  however,  should  never  be 
closed  in,  even  if  door  windows  should  be  supplied  for  easy  open- 
ing." These  are  hints  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  be  carefully 
heeded  in  the  construction  of  future  stations. 

Upon  the  close  of  the  year  1880  ended  the  second  term  of 
Mayor  Doyle's  service  as  Chief  Executive,  assuming  the  first  to 
have  terminated  with  the  election  of  Mayor  Clarke.  Mr.  Doyle 
was  not  permitted  to  remain  in  private  life.  His  talent  and 
experience  well  fitted  him  for  the  important  office  of  Senator  from 
Providence,  to  which  he  was  elected  soon  after.  As  Providence, 
although  representing  about  one-half  of  the  State  in  valuation, 
and  containing  one-third  of  the  population.  Las  but  one-thirty- 
sixth  of  the  Senatorial  representation,  it  is  eminently  requisite  that 
the  Senator  should  be  a  man  capable  of  upholding  the  dignity  and 


OUR    POLICE.  91 

maintaining  the  interests  of  the  community  ;  a  man  of  tact  as  well 
as  of  courage  and  ability,  qualified  to  attract  the  influence  which 
otherwise  he  would  be  helpless  to  exert.  Thomas  A.  Doyle 
amply  fulfilled  these  requirements.  He  never  slept  at  his  post, 
and  he  was  as  vigilant  in  the  Senate  Chamber  as  he  had  been 
in  the  Mayor's  office.  It  was  during  his  Senatorial  career  that 
a  great  trial  occurred  which  aroused  more  animosity  and  differ- 
ence, even  antagonism,  of  opinion,  than  any  criminal  case  within 
many  years.  A  well-known  physician  in  the  western  part  of 
the  State  was  accused  of  incendiarism.  His  friends  averred  that 
he  was  the  victim  of  persecution :  the  authorities,  however,  be- 
lieved that  the  circumstances  justified  a  trial.  It  was  a  hard- 
fought  controversy,  and  the  result  was  the  acquittal  of  the 
defendant.  Then  was  presented  a  shameful  spectacle  for  a 
sovereign  State.  The  General  Assembly  hesitated  to  order  the 
payment  of  the  compensation  due  to  the  officer  who  had  obtained 
the  evidence  on  which  mainly  the  indictment  was  found.  The 
officer  in  question,  Deputy  Sheriff  Albert  C.  Johnson,  had  been 
a  faithful  servant  of  the  city,  having,  as  a  city  detective,  been 
instrumental  in  the  capture  and  return  of  a  notorious  murderer, 
who  had  fled  to  Canada.  He  devoted  his  valuable  time  and 
skill,  by  special  order  of  the^  Governor,  to  the  case  of  alleged 
arson,  and  there  could  be  no  question  that  he  did  his  duty  faith- 
fully and  without  prejudice.  And  yet  he  was  selected  as  a 
victim. 

The  writer,  at  this  time,  was  the  editor  of  the  Providence 
Telegram.  He  knew  that  Mr.  Doyle  had,  in  the  past,  been 
unfavorably  inclined  toward  Mr.  Johnson,  because  the  latter 
accepted  the  reward  offered  by  the  State  for  the  capture  of  the 
murderer  Dennehy,  instead  of  turning  it  over  to  the  city  treasury, 
which  the  law  did  not  require  Mr.  Johnson  to  do,  but  which  Mr. 
Doyle,  then  Mayor,  thought  he  ought  to  have  done,  as  a  salaried 
officer  of  the  city.  But  the  writer  also  knew  that  Mr.  Doyle 
would  be  one  of  the  last  men  to  see  an  officer,  even  one  whom  he 
did  not  like,  sent  forth  penniless,  merely  because  he  had  obeyed 
the  orders  of  a  superior.  The  writer  called  upon  Senator  Doyle, 
and  suggested  that  a  yearly  appropriation  be  made  of  a  sum  of 


92  OUR    POLICE. 

money,  to  be  at  the  disposition  of  the  Governor  for  any  use  he 
might  see  fit  to  make  of  it  in  the  interest  of  public  justice.  The 
idea  impressed  Mr.  Doyle  very  favorably,  and  a  measure  substan- 
tially to  the  effect  proposed  was  soon  afterwards  introduced,  and 
has  ever  siace  been  incorporated  in  the  annual  appropriation  bill. 

The  Hon.  William  S.  Hayward  succeeded  Mr.  Doyle  in  the 
mayoralty.  He  brought  to  that  office  the  ripe  experience  of 
a  long  training  in  the  Common  Council  and  Aldermanic  cham- 
bers, a  sound  judgment  and  enterprising  spirit.  As  a  member 
of  one  of  the  leading  business  houses  of  the  city,  he  displayed, 
in  private  life,  those  qualities  most  likely  to  insure  success, 
whether  in  the  direction  of  an  extensive  business,  or  at  the  head 
of  a  municipal  corporation.  Owing  to  the  change  in  the  law,  he 
was,  unlike  his  predecessor,  not  in  command  of  the  police,  but 
there  never  was  the  slightest  friction  in  his  relations  with  that 
department.  Chief  Child  acknowledged  and  readily  extended 
the  deference  due  to  the  chosen  head  of  the  city  government, 
and  Mayor  Hayward,  on  his  part,  co-operated  cordially  in  all 
efforts  to  maintain  and  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  force.  His 
administration  was  careful,  well-ordered,  and  judiciously  progres- 
sive. Great  public  improvements  were  initiated,,  although  not 
forwarded  to  the  extent  that  Mayjor  Hayward  himself  desired. 
With  these  subjects  it  is,  of  course,  not  the  province  of  this  work 
to  deal. 

Mayor  Hayward  retired  from  office  at  the  close  of  1883,  hav- 
ing made  a  record  which  showed  him  worthy  of  a  high  place  in 
the  honorable  list  of  Providence  Mayors.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Thomas  A.  Doyle,  once  more  called  to  the  front  to  take  charge 
of  the  municipality.  Mr.  Doyle  interpreted  the  law  of  May  27, 
1880,  as  meaning  that  the  Mayor  should  act  separately  from  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  in  consenting  to  the  appointment  and  re- 
moval of  officers  of  the  police — in  other  words  that  the  Mayor 
acted,  not  as  one  with  the  Board,  but  as  a  third  and  separate 
party.  This  interpretation  went  undisputed  for  about  two  years, 
or  until  the  Mayor  was  stricken  with  fatal  disease.  AYhile  Mr. 
Doyle  was  confined  to  his  house,  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  under 
the  Presidency  of  Mr.  Bobbins,  now  Mayor,  proceeded  to  act  as 


Hon.  WILLIAM   S.  HAYWARD, 
{Ix-Maj^or. 


'*^:'':;*t-. 


•    •?    *         «      c, 


OUE    POLICE.  95 

a  Board  upon  the  nominations  of  the  Chief  of  Police.  This 
raised  the  issue  whether  the  Mayor  had  the  right  to  give  separ- 
ate consent  to  such  nominations,  and  the  question  was  referred 
to  City  Solicitor  Van  Slyck  for  settlement.  Following  is  the 
opinion  rendered : 

Office  of  the  City  Solicitor, 

Providence,  February  18,  1886. 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Board  of  Aldermen : 

Gentlemen  : — I  herewith  return  your  resolution  of  February 
4,  A.  D.  1886,  and  in  answer  thereto  I  have  the  honor  to  say : 
that  an  Act  passed  May  27,  1880,  providing  "  that  the  Chief  of 
Police  of  said  city  (Providence),  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Mayor  and  Aldermen,  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  of  said 
officers  (police  constables  and  city  watchmen)  from  office  when- 
ever, in  his  opinion,  the  interests  of  said  city  shall  require  such 
removals,"  was  passed  as  an  amendment,  as  appears  from  the 
caption  or  title  of  said  Act,  to  a  former  Act  of  the  General  As- 
sembly passed  at  the  May  session,  1855,  and  hence  has  arisen 
the  doubt  as  to  its  meaning.  Had  chapter  823  been  passed  as 
an  amendment  to  the  city  charter  there  would  have  been  no 
question  as  to  its  interpretation,  because  of  Section  1,  Clause  4, 
of  that  charter,  which,  by  reference  thereto,  as  you  will  see, 
provides  that  "  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  shall  comprise  one 
board,  and  shall  sit  and  act  together  as  one  body,"  etc.  The 
language  of  chapter  823  is  exactly  the  same  as  in  said  clause,  to 
wit:  "the  Mayor  and  Aldermen."  Is  a  different  interpretation 
to  be  made  because  the  title  recites  that  the  Act  in  question  is  in 
amendment  of  an  Act  passed  prior  to  the  present  city  charter  ? 
The  first  charter  of  the  city  makes  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  one 
body.  See  Section  4  of  said  charter,  wherein  and  whereby  cer- 
tain powers  are  vested  in  "  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  and  the 
Common  Council,"  and  not  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  the  Com- 
mon Council.  The  same  provision  existed  in  that  charter  as  to 
the  right  of  the  Mayor  to  preside  over  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
and  to  his  having  a  casting  vote  in  case  of  a  tie,  as  exists  in  the 
present   charter.     The  Act  passed  at  the  May  session,  1855, 


96  OUR   POLICE. 

gives  the  power  of  appointment  to  the  Mayor  of  said  city,  by  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  the  power  of 
removal  to  the  Mayor,  while  the  Act  amending  it  drops  the  lan- 
guage there  used,  to  wit :  "the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen," 
and  uses  the  language  of  the  present  charter,  "  Mayor  and  Al- 
dermen," a  body  created  thereby.  It  is  a  reasonable  assumption 
to  make  that  such  change  in  the  language  was  made  with  some 
object,  and  it  is  difficult  to  name  such  object  if  it  was  not  to  put 
the  power  in  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  as  constituting  one  body, 
with  the  powers  given  them  in  the  city  charter. 

It  is  to  be  also  remembered  that  chapter  823  was  passed  in 
1880,  when  by  law  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  comprised  one  body, 
and  were  directed  to  sit  and  act  together  as  one  body,  and  can  it 
be  said  that  the  legislature  had  it  in  mind  to  use  the  words  in  a 
different  sense  than  that  used  in  the  charter  which  was  in  force 
at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  said  Act  ? 

Chapter  823,  while  its  title  refers  to  the  Act  of  1855,  yet 
there  is  nothing  in  the  Act  referring  to  the  Act  of  1855,  but 
said  chapter  823  is  entirely  independent  of  any  other  Act.  It 
commanded  a  aew  policy,  and  its  repealing  clause  provides  that 
nothing  existing  inconsistent  with  thi§  command  shall  stand  in 
its  way,  wherever  such  inconsistent  legislation  can  be  found.  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  the  consent  required  by  Section  2  of 
chapter  823  is  the  consent  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  sitting 
and  acting  as  a  board,  and  that  said  section  does  not  require  a 
double  consent,  to  wit:  "the  consent  of  the  Aldermen  and  the 
individual  consent  of  the  Mayor."  The  inability  of  the  Mayor 
to  meet  with  the  Aldermen  would  not  affect  the  power  of  the 
board  to  do  what  is  required  under  chapter  823.  The  meeting 
at  which  action  is  taken  being  regular,  and  a  quorum  present,  its 
action  is  as  effective  as  if  all  entitled  to  a  seat  were  present. 

When  this  decision  was  rendered,  putting  an  end  as  it  did,  to 
the  long  controversy  for  the  control  of  the  police  force,  the  hand 
of  death  was  already  laid  upon  Thomas  Arthur  Doyle.  Any  one 
personally  acquainted  with  him  could  perceive  that  fact.  The 
Doyle  of  1885-'86  was  not  physically  the  Doyle  of  1864.  But 
the  active,  earnest,  discerning  mind  was  all  there,  unimpaired  by 


OUR   POLICE.  97 

years,  unaffected  by  the  gradual  inroads  of  disease.  With  a 
remarkable  indifference  to  his  personal  interests,  he  devoted  him- 
self more  than  ever  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  best  interests 
of  the  city.  He  appeared  to  realize  that  the  world  would  not  be 
long  for  him,  that  Providence  would  be  his  monument,  and  on 
that  fair  monument  he  proposed  that  no  sacrilegious  hand  should 
be  laid.  To  the  last  he  was  firm  to  the  city  of  his  birth,  and 
when,  almost  on  the  eve  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  Planta- 
tions the  great  brain  ceased  to  ponder,  and  the  gracious  heart  to 
beat,  every  head  was  bowed  in  sorrow,  and  every  citizen  felt  that 
we  had  lost  more  than  a  magistrate — a  friend,  an  advocate,  a 
guardian,  vigilant  and  true,  of  whom  it  might  well  be  said :  "  We 
ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again !" 


1^8  OUR  POLIOS. 


CE  AFTER     VI. 

SKETCH  OP  MAYOR  ROBBINS.  —  POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE 
MAYOR. — MR.  ROBBINS  CONFRONTED  BY  GRAVE  PROBLEMS. — 
HB  ADVISES  PROVISION  FOR  INJURED  POLICE  AND  FIREMEN. — 
THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN. — PRESIDENT  SAMPSON. — ALDER- 
MEN ARMSTRONG,  ROGERS,  MCOSKER,  BURROWS,  SMITH,  ROOT 
AND  CASEY. — CITY  CLERK  JOSLIN. 

The  Hon.  Gilbert  F.  Robbins,  Mayor  of  Providence,  was  born 
in  Burrillville,  R.  I.,  August  26,  1838.  His  parents  belonged 
to  the  farming  class,  and  were  persons  of  sterling  worth,  and 
held  in  much  esteem  in  the  community.  "  In  his  early  home 
life,"  wrote  that  popular  and  sterling  minister,  the  Rev.  Henry 
W.  Rugg,  in  the  Freemason  s  Repository ,  "  Mr.  Robbins  had  the 
benefit  of  excellent  influences  and  helps,  which  were  not  without 
their  good  effect  in  after  years.  He  was  sent  to  the  public  schools 
of  his  town  at  an  early  age,  and  profited  by  the  instruction  there 
received,  as  also  at  a  later  period,  by  attendance  at  the  Academy 
in  East  Greenwich.  When  he  was  about  seventeen  years  of 
age  his  parents  removed  to  Providence,  and  the  youth  entered 
upon  a  course  of  commercial  training,  preparatory  to  starting  out 
in  a  business  career  to  which  he  was  spe<;ially  inclined. .  Soon 
after  completing  his  course  of  study,  he  became  associated  with 
his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Serril  Mowry,  of  Providence,  in  the 
clothing  business.  The  firm  prospered  from  its  establishment, 
and  now,  under,  the  name  of  Mowry,  Robbins  &  Co.,  holds  a 
leading  place  among  the  enterprising  houses  engaged  in  this 
branch  of  trade. 

Mr.  Robbins,  while  yet  a  young  man,  became  interested  in 
public  affairs,  and  has  been  frequently  called  to  serve  his  fellow- 
citizens  in  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Common  Council  of  Providence,  in  1879,  and 
re-elected  the  two  years  next  following.     His  business  capacity 


102  OUR   POLICE. 

time,  and  shall  communicate  to  both  branches  of  City  Council  all 
such  information,  and  recommend  all  such  measures  as  the  busi- 
ness and  interests  of  the  city  may,  in  his  opinion,  require. 
Every  ordinance,  resolution,  and  vote  requiring  concurrent  action 
of  both  branches  of  the  City  Council  must  be  submitted  to  the 
Mayor,  and  a  three-fifths  vote  of  all  persons  elected  to  each 
Board  is  necessary  to  pass  over  a  veto.  If  any  bill  is  not  re- 
turned by  the  Mayor  before  the  end  of  the  meeting  next  after 
that  at  which  the  bill  is  presented  it  becomes  a  law  without  his 
express  approval. 

The  Mayor  has  power  to  discontinue  any  actions  brought  in 
behalf  of  the  city  for  the  violation  of  any  ordinance ;  and  to 
order  the  discharge  of  the  party  complained  of  before,  as  well  as 
after  conviction.  This  jurisdiction  is  exercised  by  the  Mayor 
mainly  with  the  object  of  saving  the  city  from  the  expense  of 
boarding  prisoners  for  the  benefit  of  the  State.        ■* 

Other  powers  are  conferred  on  the  Mayor  by  special  provision 
in  various  statutes,  and,  in  addition,  like  the  President  of  a  Town 
Council,  its  spokesman  when  not  in  session,  he  exercises  a  broad 
and  undefined  authority  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  public 
welfare. 

Mayor  Robbins'  first  inaugural  spoke  the  character  of  the  man, 
and  the  single  purpose  which  animated  him  as  a  public  official : 
'^  Elected  without  pledge  or  stipulation,"  he  said  to  the  City  Coun- 
cil, "  I  am  left  free  and  un trammeled  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and 
my  policy  will  be  that  which,  in  accordance  with  my  best  judg- 
ment, will  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  the  people.  I  ask  your 
aid  and  assistance  in  the  discharge  of  the  multifarious  duties  ap- 
pertaining to  the  office,  and  tender  you  my  hearty  cooperation  in 
all  efforts  that  shall  have  in  view  the  proper  administration  of  the 
trust  that  has  been  committed  to  us." 

The  new  Mayor  found  himself  confronted  by  problems  of  the 
gravest  nature.  Happily  all  doubt  had  been  settled  as  to  the 
legal  relations  between  the  Mayor  and  the  police.  Mayor  Rob- 
bins  found  in  Chief  Child  an  official  ever  ready  to  pay  due  deference 
to  the  city's  Chief  Executive,  and  Chief  Child  found  in  the 
Mayor  a  magistrate  ever  ready  to  advise  and  suggest,  but  careful 


CHARLES  F.  SAMPSON, 

Alderman,  Fourth  Ward. 

( -^ee  page  109.) 


OUR    POLICE.  106 

not  to  over-step  the  bounds  of  his  chartered  authority.  Thanks 
to  this  attitude  and  sentiment,  the  police  department,  under 
Mayor  Robbins,  has  not  only  been  maintained  in  a  high  state  of 
eflficiency,  but  has  been  able  to  devote  its  energies,  without  dis- 
cord or  distraction,  to  the  service  of  the  municipality. 

In  his  first  message  the  Mayor  spoke  with  approval  of  the 
sanitary  #irrangements  of  the  new  model  station  completed  on  the 
fifth  of  October,  1886,  for  the  Fifth  Police  District,  and  he  urged 
that  the  matter  of  providing  single  beds  for  the  patrolmen  in 
other  stations  should,  wherever  possible,  receive  attention.  He 
urged  the  necessity  for  a  new  station  in  the  Sixth  District,  and 
he  added:  "The  number  of  the  force  is  198,  and  is  entirely 
inadequate  for  proper  care  of  the  city.  The  insufficiency  of  the 
number  has  rendered  the  work  of  the  department  less  satisfactory 
than  might  have  been  otherwise  fairly  expected.  There  has  been 
added  to  the  duty  of  detecting,  preventing  and  punishing  other 
crimes,  the  necessity  of  enforcing  the  liquor  law,  so  called.  This 
duty  has  been  well  performed,  both  officers  and  men  having  been 
active  and  earnest.  The  enforcement  of  all  the  laws  against  the 
commission  and  for  the  punishment  of  crime  has  been  the  aim  of 
the  police,  and  their  work  is  entitled  to  commendation."  In 
accord  with  the  Mayor's  recommendations,  steps  were  taken  by 
the  Council  toward  providing  the  Sixth  District  with  a  new  police 
station.  In  his  inaugural  address  for  1888  the  Mayor  again 
urged  prompt  and  decisive  action,  adding  that  "  the  needs  of  the 
department  in  that  district  are  imperative.  The  building  which 
is  now  used  is  wholly  inadequate  for  the  section  in  which  it  is 
located,  while  the  accommodations  for  the  patrolmen  are  greatly 
inferior  to  those  of  other  stations.  There  should  be  no  further 
delay  in  securing  a  proper  site,  and  building  thereon  a  suitable 
station." 

The  extensive  and  disastrous  conflagration  on  the  fifteenth  of 
February  last,  which  destroyed  the  buildings  in  the  square 
bounded  by  Fountain,  Cove,  Worcester,  Eddy,  Washington  and 
Union  streets,  was  a  most  severe  test  of  the  efficiency,  not  only 
of  the  fire  department,  but  also  of  the  police.  The  fire  at  the 
Theatre  Comique  building,  but  three  days  after,  and  that  in  the 


106  OUR   POLICE. 

Daniels  building,  on  Custom  House  street,  the  day  following, 
were  fortunately  confined  to  the  buildings  in  which  they  origi- 
nated. 

These  calamities,  so  bravely  and  faithfully  combatted  by  the 
city's  servants,  called  special  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
no  fund  provided  by  law  for  the  relief  of  policemen  and  firemen 
injured  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty.  A  few  days  after  the  fire 
Mayor  Robbins  sent  a  message  to  the  City  Council  suggesting 
that  a  provision  be  made.  "In  my  first  inaugural  message," 
he  said,  "  I  alluded  to  the  danger  to  which  the  firemen  are  ex- 
posed in  the  fearless  performance  of  their  duty,  and  suggested 
that  some  plan  should  be  devised  by  the  municipality,  to  provide 
for  a  fireman  in  case  of  his  injury,  and  to  some  extent  the  family 
of  the  killed.  If  a  fireman  had  the  certainty  that  exposure, 
should  it  be  attended  by  injury,  would  not  deprive  him  of  support 
or  bring  immediate  want  upon  his  family,  it  would  stimulate  him 
to  greater  exertions  in  meeting  the  demands  upon  him  in  the 
saving  of  life  and  the  preservation  of  property  from  fires.  For- 
tunately at  the  recent  fires  no  serious  injury  was  sustained  by 
any  of  the  firemen,  but  the  liability  of  such  injury  was  great.  I 
trust  that  this  matter  will  receive  the  consideration  of  the  City 
Council,  and  that  some  provision  will  be  made  for  such  firemen 
as  may  be  injured  in  the  service  of  the  city. 

"  In  this  connection  I  shall  call  the  attention  of  the  City  Council 
to  another  department,  the  members  of  which  are  liable  to  injury 
in  the  performance  of  their  duty,  and  who  would  more  fearlessly 
perform  that  duty  were  the  assurance  given  them  that  they  would 
receive  material  support  from  the  city  should  they  be  incapa- 
citated from  further  service.  The  police  are,  with  the  firemen, 
equally  exposed  to  danger,  and  the  same  encouragement  for  a 
fearless  performance  of  duty  should  be  given  to  them.  The 
liability  from  exposure  and  the  danger  to  which  the  policemen 
were  subjected  at  the  recent  fires,  when  it  might  have  occurred 
that  they  would  be  called  upon  to  risk  life  and  limb  in  the  saving 
of  life  and  property,  equally  with  the  firemen,  suggests  that  sub- 
stantial recognition  on  the  part  of  the  City  Council  should  be 
made  to  them." 


HENRY  C.  ARMSTRONG, 
Alderman,  First  Ward. 


OUR   POLICE.  109 

The  Mayor's  message  was  duly  referred,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  administrators  of  city  affairs  will  act  favorably  upon  the 
important  subject  thus  brought  to  their  attention.  As  Mayor 
Doyle  once  remarked  in  an  address  to  the  City  Council,  many 
years  ago,  on  the  subject  of  a  fund  for  the  relief  of  disabled 
officers :  "  It  is  true  that  the  officer  has  only  done  what  he  is 
paid  by  the  city  to  perform,  but  he  would  patrol  none  the  less 
vigilantly,  because  his  watchfulness  had  secured  an  addition  to 
the  fund  to  which  he  looks  for  relief  when  disabled,  or  worn  out 
by  service." 

The  administration  of  Mayor  Robbins  is  witnessing  the  first 
operative  steps  toward  the  accomplishment  of  certain  great  and 
long  needed  public  improvements.  The  City  Council  has  re- 
solved that  the  Cove  Basin,  once  a  thing  of  beauty — "  the  apple 
of  the  eye  of  Providence,"  as  the  late  Chief  Justice  Bradley 
gracefully  called  it,  but  for  nearly  two  decades  an  open  cesspool, 
shall  be  filled,  and  the  railways  thus  given  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
tend their  facilities  for  passenger  and  freight  transportation. 
The  pollution  of  the  harbor,  by  city  sewage  at  least,  is  to  cease, 
and  a  sewage  disposal  system  to  be  established,  which  will  be  a 
model  for  the  continent.  Other  Mayors  have  advocated  and  pro- 
moted these  improvements.  Mayor  Robbins  has  the  honor  and 
credit  of  witnessing  their  practical  inception. 

First  after  the  Mayor  comes  President  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men, Mr.  Charles  F.  Sampson,  the  present  cashier,  and  for  over 
twenty  years  connected  with  the  Eagle  National  Bank.  Mr. 
Sampson  is  a  native  of  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  where  he  was  born 
ia  1833.  He  came  to  Providence  while  yet  in  early  manhood, 
and  for  over  thirty  years  has  been  identified  with  the  growth  and 
interests  of  the  city.  In  1875,  Mr.  Sampson  was  elected  to  the 
Common  Council  from  the  Fourth  Ward,  and  held  that  office 
until  1880,  when  he  was  chosen  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
When  Mayor  Robbins  accepted  the  chair  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Mayor  Doyle,  Alderman  Sampson  was  unanimously 
chosen  President  of  the  Board,  and  still  holds  that  important 
position.  As  President  it  is  his  duty  to  preside  in  the  absence 
of  the  Mayor,  and  to  act  as  Chief  Executive  when  the  Mayor  is 


110  OUR   POLICE. 

absent  from  the  city.  Alderman  Sampson  is  one  of  those  men, 
highly  valuable  in  any  legislative  body,  who  do  a  vast  amount  of 
work  quietly  and  unobtrusively,  whose  minds  are  stored  with 
well-digested  knowledge  of  the  more  important  subjects  coming, 
and  likely  to  come  under  legislative  and  executive  action,  and 
who,  therefore,  never  act  without  due  and  thorough  information 
of  the  premises.  His  natural  caution  is  seasoned  with  an  en- 
lightened sense  of  the  needs  and  requirements  of  a  growing  city; 
every  step  of  real  progress  commands  his  welcome  support.  For 
this  reason  he  is  a  valued  member  on  important  committees,  com- 
manding, as  he  does,  the  confidence  not  only  of  the  city,  but  of 
those  with  whom  he  has  to  deal  on  behalf  of  the  city. 

Alderman  Henry  C.  Armstrong  was  born  in  Chepachet,  R.  I., 
March  22d,  1847.  When  he  was  five  years  of  age  his  parents 
removed  to  Providence.  In  1855  he  went  to  Grand  Rapids, 
Michigan,  remaining  there  until  1860,  when  he  returned  to 
Providence  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  and  began  his  business  career  in  1863  at  the 
Providence  Tool  Company's  Armory  as  time-keeper,  afterwards 
becoming  book-keeper.  In  1865  he  entered  the  employ  of  a 
prominent  firm  in  this  city  as  book-keeper,  and  remained  in  that 
position  until  1880,  when  he  became  a  commercial  traveler.  In 
this  capacity  he  has  had  extensive  opportunities  for  travel,  which 
he  has  not  failed  to  improve,  although  travel  does  not  prevent 
him  from  giving  due  attention  to  his  duties  as  a  public  official. 
He  has  been  prominently  identified  with  Masonic  and  various 
social  and  beneficial  organizations.  He  was  first  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  government  as  a  Common  Councilman  from  the 
old  Third  Ward  for  1886,  was  re-elected  to  the  same  position 
for  1887,  and  is  now  Alderman  of  the  new  First  Ward. 

Alderman  Charles  Dake  Rogers,  of  the  Second  Ward,  was 
born  at  New  Hartford,  N.  Y.,  July  15,  1827,  and  received  the 
advantages  of  an  academic  education.  Finishing  his  studies  he 
immediately  entered  the  machine  shop  of  his  father  at  Willowdale, 
N.  Y.,  a  place  built  up  and  principally  owned  by  Mr.  Rogers,  Sr., 
as  a  manufacturing  village.  Here  for  upwards  of  twenty  years 
the  young  man  devoted  his  time  in  learning  the  details  of  the 


CHARLES  DAKE  ROGEKS, 
Alderman,  Second  Ward. 


OUR   POLICE.  113 

manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen  machinery,  agricultural  imple- 
ments, and  firearms.  During  the  war,  to  use  Mr.  Rogers's  own 
words,  he  sent  a  substitute,  in  the  way  of  firearms,  which  were 
made  under  his  general  supervision.  Just  after  the  close  of  the 
war  he  accepted  a  position  with  the  Utica  Screw  Company,  but 
this  concern  was  purchased  by  the  American  Screw  Company,  of 
this  city,  and  Mr.  Rogers  was  obliged  to  seek  employment  else- 
where, which  he  shortly  did  with  the  Continental  Screw  Com- 
pany. The  American  Company  also  purchased  this  plant,  and 
it  being  decided  to  continue  the  Continental  works,  Mr.  Rogers 
was  retained  as  the  superintendent.  In  1870  he  was  transferred 
to  this  city  to  take  general  superintendence  of  the  extensive 
works  of  the  American  Screw  Company  where  he  has  been  in 
continuous  service  ever  since. 

Mr.  Rogers  never  sought  or  desired  any  public  oflSce,  but,  in 
1884,  the  citizens  of  the  First  Ward  elected  him  as  their  Coun- 
cilman, re-electing  him  the  following  year,  and  in  1887  and  1888 
promoting  him  to  a  place  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  He  has 
been  an  earnest  advocate  of  a  public  market,  and  a  speech  by 
him  on  this  subject,  when  in  the  Common  Council,  attracted 
favorable  comment  and  attention.  He  has  consistently  supported 
public  improvements,  with  a  due  regard  for  the  interests  of  his 
local  constituency,  and  of  taxpayers  in  general ;  and,  as  Chair- 
man of  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Fire  Department,  he  has 
displayed  a  sound  and  judicious  discretion  in  the  direction  of 
that  important  section  of  the  municipal  service. 

Alderman  Fergus  J.  McOsker,  of  the  Third  Ward,  is  an  exam- 
ple of  what  pluck  and  perseverance  will  do  for  a  man  who  has 
grit,  integrity,  and  the  ability  not  only  to  grasp  but  to  make  op- 
portunities. Mr.  McOsker  was  born  of  respectable  parents  in 
Tyrone  County,  Ireland,  November  8,  1836.  In  May,  1840, 
his  parents  emigrated  to  this  country  and  took  up  their  residence 
at  Lowell,  Mass.  The  climate  seems  not  to  have  agreed  with 
them,  for  less  than  four  years  later,  Mr.  McOsker,  with  two 
brothers  and  one  sister,  were  sent  back  to  the  old  country,  orphans, 
both  father  and  mother  having  died.  In  June  1845,  the  future 
Providence  Alderman,  scarcely  more  than  eight  years  of  age, 


114  OUR   POLICE. 

crossed  the  Atlantic  a  third  time,  and  settled  in  this  city,  taking 
up  his  abode  with  an  uncle,  who  sent  him  to  school,  giving  him  a 
liberal  common  school  education  until  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age. 
About  this  time  the  sea-fever  struck  young  Fergus,  and  he  ran 
away  from  home,  and  in  company  with  two  other  lads,  somewhat 
older  than  himself,  he  walked  to  Warren,  R.  I.,  a  distance  of 
about  ten  miles.  Arriving  here  his  companions  were  allowed  to 
ship,  but  Fergus  was  rejected  as  being  too  young.  Nothing 
daunted,  however,  he  walked  to  New  Bedford  where  he  shipped 
aboard  a  whaling  vessel.  Being  naturally  a  bright  lad  he  soon 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  captain,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
cruise,  which  lasted  twenty-five  months,  he  had  become  an  expe- 
rienced navigator,  so  that  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  became  mate 
of  a  West  Indiaman.  From  that  time  until  1864  he  made  nu- 
merous voyages,  circumnavigating  the  globe  on  several  occasions. 
From  1862  to  1864  he  was  mate  of  one  of  the  vessels  engaged 
in  the  transportation  of  Union  troops.  During  his  entire  life 
Mr.  McOsker  has  never,  under  any  circumstances,  used  intoxi- 
cating liquors  in  any  form,  and  frequently  he  gave  temperance 
lectures  to  his  shipmates.  In  1866  he  returned  to  this  city, 
married  and  settled  down,  and  opened  a  grocery-store  and  meat 
market  on  Cross  street,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  do  busi- 
ness. 

Mr.  McOsker's  first  appearance  in  public  affairs  was  in  1881, 
when  he  was  called  upon  by  the  voters  of  the  old  Tenth  Ward 
to  represent  them  in  the  Common  Council.  Here  he  continued 
to  follow  the  motto  of  his  life,  "  never  to  do  anything  by  halves," 
and  by  his  zealous  a'nd  conscientious  service  he  held  the  solid 
support  of  his  constituents,  and  was  re-elected  each  year  until 
1888  when  he  was  rewarded  for  his  faithful  'service  by  a  seat  in 
thd  Aldermanic  Board. 

Few  men  are  better  known  in  Providence  than  Alderman  Ed- 
ward G.  Burrows,  of  the  Fifth  Ward.  Born  in  Providence, 
R.  I.,  May  14,  1828,  Mr.  Burrows  enjoyed  the  educational 
advantages  open  in  Rhode  Island  at  that  period,  to  the  youth  of 
our  town.  Of  these  he  took  the  fullest  advantage,  and,  by  indus- 
try,  thrift  and  energy,  he  worked  his  way  up  to  an  honorable 


FERGUS  J.  McOSKER, 

Alderman,  Third  Ward. 
(See  page  113.) 


•  «    .•  . « I 


OUR   POLICE.  117 

place  among  Providence  business  men.  As  appraiser  of  the 
port  for  nearly  eighteen  years,  Mr.  Burrows  showed,  by  a 
thorough  discharge  of  his  duty,  that  the  office  was  far  from  being 
a  sinecure,  and  that  while  Providence,  as  a  seaport,  no  longer 
held  the  supremacy  which  it  did,  when  the  house  of  Brown  and 
Ives  was  reaping  a  golden  harvest  from  the  sea,  yet  that  its  for- 
eign commerce  was  far  from  being  unimportant.  So  faithfully 
did  he  perform  his  difficult  and  often  delicate  task  that  he 
remained  in  office  a  long  time  after  his  party  had  gone  out  of 
power.  When  he  retired,  it  was  with  the  intention  of  abandon- 
ing public  life ;  but  his  fellow-citizens  would  not  consent  to  it, 
and  in  1886  he  was  elected  to  the  Common  Council,  and  to  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  in  the  following  year.  Mr.  Burrows  is  one 
of  those  men  who  think  geniality  entirely  compatible  with  official 
trust,  and  that  official  dignity  can  be  maintained  without  a  stern 
and  forbidding  exterior.  In  city  affairs  he  is,  as  in  private  busi- 
ness he  was,  entirely  practical,  without  personal  grievances  to 
gratify,  or  personal  hobbies  to  maintain,  his  sole  hobby  being  to 
do  what  is  best  for  the  city.  His  thorough  knowledge  of  the  city, 
whose  growth  he  has  watched  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  of 
whose  history  he  is  a  part,  makes  him  a  most  valuable  mem- 
ber of  the  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  City  Property.  Mr. 
Burrows  is  far  from  being  an  old  man,  but  he  is  one  of  the  few 
survivors  of  that  genial  circle  in  which  Henry  B.  Anthony  shone 
as  the  central  star,  and  the  fact  that  he  enjoyed  the  late  Senator's 
intimate  friendship  is  the  best  guarantee  of  his  worth. 

Alderman  Robert  Ezekiel  Smith,  of  the  Sixth,  is  a  lineal  descen- 
dant of  Roger  Williams,  the  founder  of  Providence.  He  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Pawtuxet,  town  of  Cranston,  Rhode  Is- 
land, March  22, 1837,  and  there  he  spent  his  earlier  days  attend- 
ing the  best  public  school  in  the  vicinity.  At  the  conclusion  of 
his  school  days  he  became  a  grocer's  clerk,  and  in  April,  1859, 
he  entered  the  coal  office  of  Joseph  Hodges  &  Co.,  with  whom 
he  remained  until  about  the  first  of  November,  1867^  when  he 
became  a  partner  in  the  firm.  On  January  1,  1875,  however, 
he  entered  into  business  for  himself,  opening  a  coal  yard  on  South 
Water  street,  under  the  firm  name  of  Robert  E.  Smith  &  Co. 


118  OUR   POLICE. 

Mr.  Smith  began  his  public  career  in  1877,  when  elected  as  a 
member  of  the  Common  Council.  Here  he  proved  himself 
worthy  of  the  trust  and  confidence  reposed  in  him,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  was  sent  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  from  the 
Seventh  Ward,  being  re-elected  to  that  body  in  '79,  '80  and  '81, 
the  latter  year  serving  as  President  of  the  Board.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  year  1881  he  retired  from  active  public  life,  only 
to  be  returned,  however,  to  his  old  seat  in  the  Board  in  1887,  as 
representative  from  the  Ninth  Ward,  and  in  1888,  in  a  similar 
capacity  from  the  Sixth,  having  thus  been  the  chosen  representa- 
tive from  three  different  wards  during  ten  years.  It  is  rarely 
that  one  man  proves  satisfactory  to  so  many  different  constituen- 
cies, especially  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  fact  that  Alderman 
Smith  has  done  so,  indicates  that,  in  the  discriminating  judgment 
of  Providence  electors,  he  possesses  peculiar  qualifications  for 
his  trust.  His  official  career  has  witnessed  signal  changes  in  our 
city  afiairs,  and,  never  an  obstructionist,  his  vote  has  always  been 
in  the  interest  of  wise  and  prudent  reform.  At  present  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  Accounts  and  the 
Joint  Standing  Committees  on  Highways  and  Railroads. 

Alderman  Henry  T.  Root,  of  the  Seventh  Ward,  was  born  at 
Augusta,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  October  5,  1830.  He  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that  place  and  early  began 
training  himself  for  a  successful  mercantile  life.  Removing  to 
Hartford,  Conn.,  about  1854,  he  at  once  opened  a  stove  and 
house  furnishing  goods  store,  which  at  the  end  of  four  years  he 
sold,  with  the  purpose  of  removing  to  a  larger  field  in  Provi- 
dence. In  1858  he  started  in  the  same  line  of  business  here, 
and  continues  it  successfully  at  the  present  time.  He  began 
public  life  as  a  Councilman  from  the  Ninth  Ward,  in  1869,  and 
was  re-elected  continuously  in  1872.  He  represented  the  Ninth 
Ward  as  Alderman,  1872-'78,  and  from  1885  to  1887,  when, 
the  ward  lines  having  been  changed,  he  was  elected  Alderman 
from  the  Seventh  Ward.  Mr.  Root  represents  a  section  deeply 
interested  in  public  improvements,  and  his  re-elections  bear  evi- 
dence that  the  interests  of  the  annexed  district  have  not  been 
neglected  at  his  hands.     Since  he  was  first  chosen  to  represent 


EDWAKD  G.  BURROWS, 

Alderman,  Fifth  Ward. 
(See  page  114.) 


INSET. 

The  year  1889  brought  with  it  a  change  in  the  Mayoralty, 
Mr.  Bobbins  retiring  to  give  place  to  Henry  R.  Barker.  The 
new  Mayor  is  a  Providence  man  in  every  nerve  and  fibre.  Born 
September  15, 1841,  on  South  Main  street,  within  half  a  mile  of 
Market  Square,  he  is  descended  from  old  and  honorable  Rhode 
Island  stock,  his  ancestors  having  been  connected  with  the  set- 
tlement of  the  colony.  Mr.  Barker  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  this  city,  passing  through  every  grade  from  primary, 
and  graduating  from  the  High  School  in  1859,  with  a  creditable 
rank  in  his  class.  In  January,  1860,  Mr.  Barker  entered,  as 
clerk,  the  service  of  the  Providence  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany, organized  in  the  year  1800.  For  reasons  patent  to  all 
who  know  Mr.  Barker,  the  young  clerk  made  rapid  progress  in 
the  favor  of  his  employers.  He  made  their  business  his  own, 
and  threw  his  energies  into  their  interests ;  and  the  company 
did  not  fail  to  appreciate  faithful  and  successful  service. 

When  the  rebels  threatened  to  attack  Washington,  and  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  summoned  the  loyal  North  to  rally  to  the  defence 
of  the  capital,  Mr.  Barker,  still  under  age,  enlisted  as  Sergeant 
of  Company  I,  of  the  10th  Rhode  Island.  Honorably  dis- 
charged at  the  expiration  of  his  term,  he  returned  home  with 
the  intention  of  re-enlisting.  As  he  stepped  into  the  office  of 
the  Providence  Mutual,  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Joseph  T.  Snow, 
who  had  that  very  day  joined  the  11th  Rhode  Island,  received 
him  with  the  announcement  of  the  fact,  adding:  "You  must 
not  go  back  to  the  army,  Mr.  Barker.  One  of  us  must  remain 
to  take  care  of  the  business,  and  as  I  have  enlisted,  you  are  the 
man."  Mr.  Barker  was  installed  as  Assistant  Secretary,  and 
for  nearly  a  year  he  had  full  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  Provi- 
donce  Mutual,  then  carrying  insurance  to  the  amount  of  about 
$12,000,000  in  Providence  and  throughout  Rhode  Island.  Mr. 
Barker  was  afterward  elected  Secretary,  and  then  President  of 


OUR   POLICE. 

the  corporation,  which  latter  office  he  holds  to-day.  As  to  his 
management,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  amount  of  business 
done  by  this  ancient  company  has  increased  more  than  fifty  per 
cent,  within  twenty  years. 

Mr.  Barker  is  a  favorite  in  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
for  the  same  reason  that  he  has  been  successful  in  political  and 
private  affisiirs — he  went  into  their  cause  with  heart  and  soul. 
In  Mr.  Barker  the  veteran  found  a  true  and  devoted  friend,  a 
faithful  and  tireless  advocate.  He  was  a  charter  member  of 
Slocum  Post  No.  10,  and  is  still  in  active  membership.  He  was 
the  first  Adjutant  of  the  Post,  and  served  five  successive  terms 
as  Commander,  and  upon  retiring  from  the  command,  he  was 
elected  Quartermaster.  In  1879  Mr.  Barker  was  elected  Com- 
mander of  the  Department  of  Rhode  Island.  He  has  repre- 
sented the  Grand  Army  of  the  State  in  several  National  En- 
campments, and  took  an  active  share  in  the  election  of  General 
Burnside  to  the  leadership  of  the  veterans  of  the  Union.  Mayor 
Barker  has  lost  none  of  his  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  soldiers, 
and  every  genuine  movement  in  their  behalf  commands  his  cor- 
dial support. 

Like  his  predecessor.  Mayor  Doyle,  whose  salient  character- 
istics he  appears  to  possess  in  a  striking  degree,  Mr.  Barker  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  Brotherhood.  He  became  a 
Mason  in  the  latter  part  of  1862,  and  was  an  officer  of  St.  John's 
Lodge,  of  our  city,  about  three  months  after  he  had  arrived  at 
manhood's  years.  He  is  a  charter  member  and  Past  Master  of 
Corinthian  Lodge,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Providence  Royal 
Arch  Chapter,  and  of  Calvary  Commandery,  Knights  Templar. 
In  the  latter  body  Mayor  Barker  holds  the  office  of  Generalissimo, 
Attorney-General  Horatio  Rogers  being  Eminent  Commander. 

Mr.  Barker's  municipal  service  began  in  1873.  He  repre- 
sented the  Ninth  Ward  in  the  Common  Council  from  June  in  that 
year  to  January,  1880,  being  unanimously  elected  President  in 
1879.  Mr.  Barker  served  on  important  committees,  and  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education  from  1875  to  1878, 
inclusive.  In  1878  he  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  the  Dedication  of  the  City  Hall,  and  was  also  Chairman 


OUR   POLICE. 

of  the  Committee  on  the  erection  of  a  new  High  School.  It  is 
creditable  alike  to  the  City  of  Providence  and  to  Mr.  Barker 
that  the  head  of  the  committee  entrusted  with  the  supervision 
and  direction  of  the  work  of  constructing  our  noble  temple  of 
higher  education  should  himself  be  a  graduate  of  the  common 
schools  of  Providence.  There  could  be  no  brighter  evi(fence  of 
the  efficiency  of  the  system.  Providence  has  reason  to  be  proud 
of  her  schools.  What  cathedrals  are  to  the  mouldering  cities  of 
Continental  Europe,  what  the  churches  are  to  Rome,  and  the 
haughty  homes  of  aristocracy  to  London — such  are  the  schools 
to  Providence.  They  are  the  palaces  of  our  city.  They  are 
buildings  to  which  the  citizens  can  point,  not  with  pride  alone, 
but  with  hope  and  confidence ;  for  strong  as  their  foundations, 
and  elegant  their  construction,  they  indicate  that  the  foundations 
of  the  commonwealth  are  of  materials  more  enduring  than  cement 
or  marble — popular  education,  popular  intelligence,  popular  self- 
respect  and  equality.  And  Mayor  Barker  has  had  no  unim- 
portant share  in  making  our  schools  what  they  are. 

With  the  close  of  1879  Mr.  Barker  was  promoted  by  his  con- 
stituents to  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  In  that  body  he  commanded 
the  influence  which  his  long  and  efficient  service  in  the  Common 
Council  merited.  He  was  appointed  to  the  Joint  Committees 
on  Police  and  Railroads,  and  was  chairman  of  the  Aldermanic 
Committee  on  Police,  also  of  the  Committee  on  the  Armory,  and 
member  of  the  Committee  on  Constables.  The  election  of  Mr. 
Barker  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Police  was  a  tribute  to 
his  discretion  and  energy,  at  a  period  which  called  alike  for  rare 
prudence,  firmness  and  tact,  in  the  direction  of  affairs  pertaining 
to  that  department,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  History. 
Mr.  Barker  amply  justified  the  confidence  exhibited  in  his  judg- 
ment and  abilities,  and  the  following  year  continued  on  the 
same  committees.  In  1882  he  was  unanimously  elected  President 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittees on  the  City  Debt,  the  City  Engineer's  Department,  and 
the  Aldermanic  Committees  on  Streets,  and  "  The  Location  of 
a  building  for  persons  having  diphtheria." 

With  the  close  of  1 882  Mr.  Barker  retired  from  municipal 


OUR   POLICE. 

affairs  to  give  attention  to  the  large  and  growing  business  of  the 
corporation  with  which  from  youth  up  he  had  been  connected, 
and  until  this  year  he  remained  in  private  life,  but  not  forgotten 
by  his  fellow  citizens.  The  public  eyes  were  more  than  once 
turned  toward  him  as  a  fitting  candidate  for  Mayor,  but  Mr. 
Barker  was  not  a  man  to  struggle  for  elevation.  He  did  not 
affect  to  despise  public  office,  or  to  hold  in  light  esteem  those 
trusts  which  are,  in  Rhode  Island,  certainly,  the  evidence  of 
honorable  repute,  and  of  standing  in  the  community.  But  he 
felt  that  the  people  had  his  record  to  judge  from,  and  that  upon 
their  judgment  it  was  his  duty  to  wait.  His  nomination  and 
election  by  a  decided  majority  proved  that  faithfjil  service  had 
not  been  forgotten,  and  that  our  citizens  believed  him  to  be  the 
right  man  to  whom  to  intrust  the  leadership  of  the  municipality 
during  the  advancement  of  those  improvements  upon  which  the 
future  of  Providence  greatly  depends. 

Mayor  Barker's  inaugural  address  showed  that,  in  private 
station,  he  had  kept  a  careful  watch  on  the  progress  of  civic 
affairs.  After  discussing,  in  concise  and  instructive  language, 
the  prominent  questions  which  have  too  long  been  before  our 
citizens,  and  which  have  threatened  to  be  handed  down,  like  a 
Corsican  vendetta,  from  one  generation  to  another,  he  added : 

"  The  development  and  growth  of  this  city  has  been  conserva- 
tive, but  its  gradual  increase  in  wealth  and  population,  from 
decade  to  decade,  is  fully  attested  by  reliable  statistics.  The 
inducements  which  have  been  offered  by  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  good  schools,  well  organized  fire  and  police  de- 
partments, good  highways,  well-lighted  streets,  a  large  and 
effective  water  supply,  and  the  liberal  appropriations  made  for 
other  public  improvements,  have  tended  to  secure  this  sure 
though  gradual  growth. 

"Competition  exists  between  municipalities  as  well  as  between 
individuals,  and  the  greater  the  advantages  offered  by  a  city  for 
education,  for  protection  of  life  and  property,  for  security  to 
health,  for  public  recreation  and  enjoyment,  and  for  the  exten- 
sion and  development  of  trade,  so  much  the  more  will  indi- 
viduals avail  themselves  of  these  inducements,  and  by  their 
coming  within  its  borders  quicken  its  advancement. 


MAYOR  BARKER. 


1  *    I      t    \. 


OUR    POLICE; 

"  The  indications  for  a  more  rapid  advance  of  this  city  than 
has  been  in  the  past  are  encouraging,  if  the  possibilities  of  the 
extension  of  its  commercial  relations  by  rail  and  by  water  are 
aided  by  wise  legislation  on  your  part  tending  to  the  promotion 
of  those  projects  which  necessarily  develop  its  resources. 

"Already  outside  capital  has  been  invested  here,  and  to  my 
knowledge  foreign  capitalists  have  been  considering  very  recently 
the  natural  advantages  presented  by  this  city  for  the  establish- 
ment within  its  limits  of  extensive  business  enterprises,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  nothing  will  occur  to  prevent  the  consumma- 
tion of  these  projects. 

"  The  capital  of  non-residents  alone  must  not  be  depended 
upon  to  secure  the  building  up  of  new  industries,  but  such  of 
our  citizens  who  make  investments  abroad  from  the  hope  of 
securing  greater  immediate  return,  should  be  induced  to  retain 
their  money  at  home,  and  by  its  use  here  aid  in  adding  to  the 
wealth  of  this  community.  Not  only  would  such  retention  of 
capital  aid  in  the  growth  and  increase  the  wealth  of  the  city, 
but  would  by  the  extension  of  business  add  to  the  value  of  their 
belongings  here,  and  thus  in  the  end  give  a  larger  return  for 
their  capital.  In  this  way  they  will  keep  the  enterprises  in 
which  they  may  be  engaged  within  their  own  knowledge,  and 
under  their  more  immediate  control. 

"  The  action  which  you  will  take  in  legislating  upon  the  im- 
portant matters,  to  which  allusions  have  been  made,  if  wisely 
directed,  will  inspire  confidence  in  the  people,  and  the  capital 
now  invested  in  this  city  will  not  only  be  retained,  but  others, 
having  money  to  invest  will  here  obtain  the  advantages  which 
they  are  seeking. 

"  Let,  therefore,  your  legislation  be  broad  and  comprehensive, 
80  that  the  afiairs  of  the  city  government  may  be  conducted  upon 
sound  business  principles." 

As  to  the  too-long- vexed  issue  of  railway  terminal  facilities, 
His  Honor  said,  that :  "  Whatever  is  best  for  the  citizens  and 
the  railroads  should  be  secured,  and  that  without  unnecessary 
delay.  The  question  of  the  location  of  a  passenger  station  and 
freight  depots  should  be,  carefully  considered,  and  the  demands 


OUR   POLICE. 

of  the  citizens  recognized,  with  due  regard  to  their  convenience 
and  the  promotion  and  extension  of  their  business  interests. 
Grade  crossings,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  should  be  abolished, 
and  the  location  of  the  tracks  made  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to 
separate  the  northern  section  of  the  city  from  the  southern  by 
obstructions  which,  in  the  least,  will  affect  the  improvement  of 
the  one  to  the  detriment  of  the  other. 

"  In  the  development  of  a  plan  for  railroad  facilities,  the 
advantages  that  will  accrue  to  the  whole  city  are  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  the  preferences  of  individuals  for  purely  personal 
profit  should  not  be  permitted  to  determine  the  action  of  the  City 
Council,  neither  should  the  railroad  corporations  be  allowed  to 
impose  upon  the  city  a  plan  which,  while  it  may  suit  them, 
will  not  be  acceptable  to  the  people.  It  will,  therefore,  be  my 
aim  to  do  all  that  is  possible  to  aid  in  carrying  out  the  improve- 
ment of  railroad  facilities,  considering  only  the  interests  of  the 
whole  city.  The  demands  of  the  citizens  in  this  respect  are 
imperative,  and  upon  you  rests  the  responsibility  of  legislating 
upon  the  question  in  such  a  manner  as  will  evolve  a  speedy 
accomplishment  of  an  object  which  cannot  fail  of  being  one  of 
the  most  important  factors  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  our 
municipality." 

Mayor  Barker  recommended  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Council  the  subject  of  the  adoption  of  a  police  signal  system. 
He  said  that  "  such  systems  have  been  in  use  in  several  of  the 
large  cities,  and  are  reported  to  be  valuable  as  an  aid  for  securing 
greater  efficiency  of  the  department.  By  their  use  it  is  claimed 
that  a  better  control  of  the  men  is  obtained,  and  in  emergencies 
the  aid  of  additional  officers  and  patrolmen  is  more  quickly 
assured  to  the  officer  or  citizen  requiring  assistance.  It  is  also 
claimed  that  where  these  systems  have  been  established  it  has 
not  been  necessary  to  largely  increase  the  number  of  men  for 
patrol  duty,  and  that  the  saving  in  this  respect  goes  far  towards 
the  expense  of  its  introduction.  If  the  operations  of  a  system  of 
police  telegraphy  would  be  an  aid  to  the  efficiency  of  the  police, 
and  the  results  such  as  would  warrant  its  establishment  within 
the  business  portion  of  the  city,  the  matter  should  receive  your 


r« 


l^ 


ALDERMAN  WEST. 


•^  J  t/:  i. 


OUR    POLICE. 

attention  and  the  merits   of  the  various  systems  be  carefully 
considered." 

Mayor  Barker  is  a  believer  in  the  future  of  our  city.  That 
fact  impresses  any  one  conversing  with  him,  and  is  the  best 
guarantee  that  he  will  be  a  successful  Chief  Magistrate.  The 
office  is  not  for  him  a  question  of  bread,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  of 
personal  ambition  alone.  His  aspirations  are  identified  with  the 
promotion  of  the  interests  of  Providence,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  those  interests  are  safe  in  his  charge. 

Ambrose  E.  West,  the  new  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
from  the  Tenth  Ward,  is  a  native  of  this  city,  born  in  Providence 
in  1855.  Mr.  West  belongs  to  the  well-known  legal  firm  of 
George  J.  &  A.  E.  West,  who,  at  the  recent  term  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  defended  the  majority  of  criminal  causes.  Of 
the  senior  member  of  this  firm  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  has 
few  peers  in  eloquence  as  an  advocate,  or  success  as  a  counsellor, 
and  Attorney- General  Rogers  aptly  termed  him  *'the  silver- 
tongued."  In  Mr.  Ambrose  E.  West,  his  gifted  brother  has  an 
intelligent  and  efficient  associate,  and  one  on  whom  he  can  safely 
rely  for  the  conduct  of  cases  entrusted  to  his  charge.  Mr. 
Ambrose  E.  West  was  elected  to  the  Common  Council  from  the 
Tenth  Ward  in  1887,  and  served  his  constituents  so  acceptably 
that  they  decided  in  1888  to  send  him  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
In  the  Council  Mr.  West  was  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee 
on  Ordinances,  a  place  for  which  his  legal  training  made  him 
competent.  In  the  Board  of  Aldermen  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Joint  Committee  on  Claims,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Auctioneers,  member  of  the  Police  Committee,  with  Aldermen 
Edwin  Lowe  and  Edward  G.  Burrows,  and  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Street  Signs  and  Numbers.  The  Police  Com- 
mittee now  consists  of  three  members,  with  Alderman  Lowe  as 
Chairman,  a  change  satisfactory  to  the  committee,  and  likely  to 
be  more  convenient  in  operation  than  a  dual  membership.  The 
appointment  of  Mr.  West  also  gives  personality  on  the  com- 
mittee to  a  large  and  valuable  element  of  citizenship. 

Mr.  West  is  thoroughly  in  favor  of  judicious  improvement  in 
the  police,  as  in  other  city  departments.     "I  believe,"  he  said 


OUR   POLICE. 

to  the  writer,  ^'  that  a  police  signal  system  ought  to  be  adopted ; 
that  we  have  passed  the  period  when  old  methods  of  making 
arrests,  and  eiFecting  the  suppression  of  disorder,  ought  to  be 
pursued  in  a  community  like  Providence.  We  want  every  tried 
and  valuable  improvement  that  can  be  attained  with  reasonable 
expenditure.  The  city  has  never  been  niggardly  in  providing 
for  its  departments,  and  the  proper  protection  of  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  citizens  is  the  first  duty  of  a  municipality.  The 
veteran  policemen  who  have  done  faithful  service  should  be  pro- 
tected from  want,  and  the  families  of  those  injured  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty  should  not  be  allowed  to  suffer.  My  view  is 
that  every  officer  should  give  the  city  a  fair  and  faithful  return 
for  his  salary,  and  the  city  should  recognize  and  reward  fidelity 
in  its  officers,  when  age  or  accident  has  rendered  them  unfit  for 
service." 


OUR   POLICE.  121 

the  old  Ninth  Ward,  that  region  has  become  a  garden  spot,  a 
centre  of  attractive  suburban  homes,  as  well  as  of  prosperous 
business.  All  this  could  not  have  come  about  without  faithful 
and  efficient  representation  in  the  City  Council,  and  Mr.  Koot 
should  receive  due  credit  for  his  share  in  what  has  been  accom- 
plished. While  there  may  be  something  of  destiny  in  the  west- 
ward march  of  empire  and  improvement,  it  should  be  needless  to 
add  that  the  progress  of  a  locality  materially  depends  upon  •  the 
prescience  and  activity  of  its  representatives. 

Alderman  John  Casey,  of  the  Tenth  Ward,  is  a  successful  Irish- 
American  business  man.  He  was  born  at  Ross  Common,  Ireland, 
November  8,  1846,  and  enjoyed  the  varied  educational  advantages 
afforded  by  the  school  system  of  that  country  to  the  children  of 
the  well-to-do  farmers.  In  1863,  his  father  having  died  five 
years  previously,  Mr.  Casey  removed  to  this  country  accompanied 
by  his  mother.  He  first  settled  at  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  where  he 
took  charge  of  a  green-house.  At  the  end  of  eighteen  months 
he  went  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  he  found  employment  in  a 
government  cotton  warehouse.  In  1866  he  came  to  this  city, 
entering  the  employment  of  the  Nicholson  File  Company.  There 
he  had  charge  of  several  rolling  machines.  In  1870  he  opened 
a  small  grocery  store  on  Putnam  street,  w^here  he  is  now  estab- 
lished, his  fair,  honest  dealings  gaining  him  popularity  and  cus- 
tom. From  time  to  time  he  has  found  it  necessary  to  enlarge  his 
store,  and  five  years  ago  he  openeid  a  branch  store  at  Pawtucket 
under  the  firm  name  of  Casey  and  Mulleedy.  Mr.  Casey  esti- 
mates that  the  two  stores  do  a  retail  business  of  upwards  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million  dollars  annually.  He  also  has  been  exten- 
sively engaged  in  real  estate  transactions. 

In  1886  the  Democratic  voters  of  the  Tenth  Ward  placed  Mr. 
Casey's  name  upon  the  ticket  for  Councilman,  and  he  was  elected. 
The  following  year  he  was  re-elected  to  the  Council,  and  in  1888 
he  was  the  Aldermanic  candidate  from  that  section.  During  his 
service  in  the  City  Council,  Mr.  Casey  has  earned  and  maintained 
the  esteem  of  his  colleagues  as  a  faithful  and  conscientious  public 
official,  and  he  holds  a  place  on  the  Joint  Public  Committee  on 
Claims. 


122  OUR   POLICE. 

As  the  Aldermen  who  constitute  the  Police  Committee  of  the 
Board  will  be  mentioned  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  it  may  be  well 
here  to  include  the  City  Clerk,  and  Clerk  of  the  Board,  ex-officio, 
Mr.  Henry  V.  A.  Joslin.  Mr.  Joslin  has  the  affairs  of  the 
municipality  at  his  fingers'  ends,  and  everyone,  be  he  or  she  a 
resident  or  a  stranger  within  the  gates,  who  has  a  problem  to 
solve,  or  a  date  to  unearth,  relating  to  the  municipality,  resorts 
to  Clerk  Joslin  for  the  solution  or  the  date.  And  Mr.  Joslin  is 
always  courteous  and  always  patient,  whoever  the  visitor  may  be. 
Mr.  Joslin  was  born  in  Exeter,  Rhode  Island,  April  24,  1846. 
He  is  the  son  of  John  H.  and  Julia  A.  (Vaughn)  Joslin.  As 
the  parents  of  our  City  Clerk  removed  to  Providence  in  1848, 
his  recollections  of  Exeter  are  quite  rudimentary,  and  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  he  is  a  Providence  boy.  Mr.  John  H.  Joslin 
was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council  from  the  Seventh  Ward 
from  1869  until  1873,  and  Alderman  from  June  until  July  24, 
1873,  the  date  of  his  death.  He  was  the  first  Providence  Alder- 
man to  die  in  office,  and  Mayor  Doyle  and  his  Aldermanic  asso- 
ciates paid  a  fitting  tribute  to  his  worth,  while  they  deeply 
regretted  his  loss. 

Mr.  Henry  Y.  A.  Joslin  graduated  from  Brown  University  in 
the  class  of  1867,  and  engaged  in  the  lumber  business  with  his 
father  until  the  latter's  death.  He  had  not  fully  determined 
what  course  to  pursue  after  being  thus  bereft  of  a  sagacious  part- 
ner and  a  devoted  parent,  when  he  received  a  message  from 
Mayor  Doyle  requesting  him  to  call  at  the  Mayor's  office.  There 
Mr.  Joslin  was  asked  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  newly  created 
office  of  Mayor's  Clerk.  It  was  not  without  diffidence  that  the 
young  man  accepted  the  confidential  relation  to  an  official  for 
whom  he  had  always  entertained  the  highest  regard,  and  it  may 
be  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection  that  the  first  paper  handed 
to  the  new  clerk  related  to  the  police.  At  that  time  the  Mayor 
was  in  supreme  command  of  the  force,  and  much  of  the  business 
of  the  office  consisted  of  orders  and  communications  regarding 
the  department. 

Mr.  Joslin  so  faithfully  and  efficiently  fulfilled  the  duties  of 
Mayor's   Clerk  that  in  January,  1879,  he  was  judged  by  the 


KOBEKT  E.  SMITH, 

Alderman,   Sixth  Ward, 
(See  page  117.) 


OUR   POLICE.  125 

City  Council  to  be  best  fitted  for  the  more  important  office  of 
City  Clerk,  made  vacant  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Samuel  W. 
Brown,  who  had  held  the  position  nearly  twenty  years.  Upon 
accepting  this  office  Mr.  Joslin  resigned  the  place  on  the  School 
Committee,  which  he  had  held  from  1870.  He  also  resigned  the 
office  of  Major  commanding  the  First  Battalion  of  Cavalry,  which 
he  had  occupied  for  five  years.  ,  It  was  Mr.  Joslin's  view  that 
the  City  Clerk  should  hold  no  other  office,  but  devote  his  time 
altogether  to  the  service  of  the  city.  He  had  always  felt  and 
exhibited  an  active  interest  in  the  public  schools,  and  in  military 
matters,  and  both  the  School  Committee  and  his  command  appre- 
ciated his  value,  and  regretted  his  departure. 

The  City  Clerk  is  required  by  the  charter  to  perform  all  such 
duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  City  Council,  or  by  the  Board 
of  Aldermen.  He  must  also  discharge  the  duties  and  exercise 
the  powers  incumbent  by  law  upon  town  clerks,  excepting  matters 
of  probate,  the  duties  of  City  Registrar,  and  the  recording  of 
conveyances.  He  is  likewise  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
Among  the  well-known  duties  of  a  town  clerk  is  the  annual 
registration  of  voters,  posting  of  warrants  for  elections,  etc.,  and 
these  require  the  careful  attention  of  an  experienced  mind,  versed 
in  the  law,  and  rapid  in  analysis.  These  qualifications  Mr.  Joslin 
possesses  in  a  prominent  degree.  He  is  soundly  discreet,  with- 
out being  narrowly  technical,  and  he  does  not  stand  upon  cere- 
mony when  the  interests  of  the  public  are  to  be  protected,  or  the 
rights  of  the  individual  secured. 

Among  Mr.  Joslin's  more  prominent  services,  outside  of  his 
regular  duties,  was  the  preparation  of  the  reports  of  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  City  Hall — a  work  undertaken  at  the  request  of  the 
Committee  which  had  charge  of  the  celebration,  and  most  satis- 
factorily performed.  Mr.  Joslin  compiled  the  volume  on  the 
unveiling  of  the  monument  of  Roger  Williams,  a  memorable 
event  in  the  history  of  the  city  which  Roger  Williams  founded. 
He  prepared  the  valuable  report  on  the  Dexter  Donation  Fund, 
the  history  of  which  had  before  been  difficult  to  arrive  at.  Mr. 
Joslin's  report  places  all  matters  in  relation  to  the  Fund  within 
ready  access.     The  Doyle  memorial  volume  was  prepared  by  Mr. 


126  OUR   POLICE. 

Joslin,  who  also  prepared  the  handsome  book  which  perpetuates 
the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  Providence.  For  his 
services  in  connection  with  the  obsequies  of  Mayor  Doyle  Mr. 
Joslin  received  a  testimonial  in  the  form  of  a  handsome  gold 
medal,  suitably  inscribed,  and  purchased  with  the  individual 
contributions  of  the  committee. 


OUR  POLICE.  127 


CHAPTER     VII. 

THE  POLICE  COMMITTEE. — ALDERMAN  EDWIN  LOWE,  THE  CHAIR- 
MAN.— RULES  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN. — TRIAL  OF  COM- 
PLAINTS.— SOME  OF  THE  DUTIES  OF  POLICE  OFFICERS. — THE 
SUBJECT  OF  A  PATROL  WAGON. — ALDERMAN  BENJAMIN  E. 
KINSLEY.  —  THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  HARD-WORKED  MEN. — 
PENSIONS  FOR  THE  DISABLED  AND  SUPERANNUATED. 

The  Board  of  Aldermen,  as  before  explained,  with  the 
Mayor,  controls  the  Police  Department,  the  approval  of  the 
Board  being  required  to  all  changes,  whether  appointments, 
promotions,  or  dismissals  from  the  force.  There  is  no  police 
commission,  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  with  the  Chief  of  Po- 
lice, exercising  the  powers  and  duties  which,  in  other  large 
cities,  are  devolved  upon  a  commission.  The  details  of  police 
management,  such  as  trials,  suspensions,  and  fines,  would,  how- 
ever, be  too  taxing  for  the  Board,  with  its  other  numerous 
duties,  to  give  attention  to,  and  therefore  a  Police  Committee 
is  appointed,  which  acts  in  behalf  of  the  Board,  and,  in  all 
matters  save  appointments  or  dismissals,  exercises  final  authority. 
This  Committee  consists  of  Alderman  Edwin  Lowe,  of  the  Eighth 
Ward,  Chairman,  and  Alderman  Benjamin  E.  Kinsley,  of  the 
Ninth  Ward. 

Alderman  Edwin  Lowe  bears  his  forty-five  years  graceiiilly. 
Born  in  Birmingham,  England,  he  came  here  when  about  six 
years  of  age,  and  his  experience  has  proved,  like  that  of  Slater, 
of  Duncan,  and  other  sons  of  Britain,  that  nowhere  is  there  a 
better  opportunity  than  in  Rhode  Island,  for  brains,  energy  and 
integrity,  come  whence  they  may.  However,  Mr.  Lowe  is  a 
Rhode  Islander  in  all  but  nativity,  all  his  interests,  associations, 
and  memories  of  youth  and  manhood  being  connected  with  these 
Plantations.  When  the  deadly  blast  of  war  summoned  the  young 
men  of  Rhode  Island  to  battle  for  the  Union,  Mr.  Lowe  answered 


128  OUR   POLICE. 

the  call,  and  as  a  private  in  the  First,  and  sergeant  in  the 
Twelfth  Rhode  Island  regiment,  he  made  an  honorable  record  of 
duty  well  performed  on  famous  fields  of  war,  including  the  heroic 
and  disastrous  struggle  of  Fredericksburg.  Mr.  Lowe  is  also  a 
member  of  the  First  Light  Infantry  Veteran  Association.  He 
has  served  three  years  in  the  Council  from  the  Eighth  Ward,  and 
now  represents  that  Ward  as  Alderman.  Mr.  Lowe  has  been  for 
many  years  successfully  engaged  in  the  gold-plating  business,  at 
No.  82  Clifford  street. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Police  Committee,  Alderman  Lowe  has 
given  thorough  attention  to  matters  bearing  upon  the  welfare  of 
the  force.  "  We  are  governed,"  he  said  to  the  writer,  "by  the 
rules  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  which  has  laid  down  a  set  of 
regulations  for  the  administration  of  the  Police  Department. 
"  The  general  rules  of  the  Board  provide  for  furloughs  of  one 
week  in  each  municipal  year.  No  member  of  the  department  is 
allowed  in  the  station  house  or  elsewhere,  while  on  duty,  to  drink 
any  kind  of  intoxicating  liquor,  or  smoke,  or,  except  in  the  im- 
mediate performance  of  his  duty,  enter  any  place  in  which  intoxi- 
cating drinks  are  sold  or  furnished.  No  intoxicating  drink  can 
be  introduced,  upon  any  pretext,  into  the  station  houses,  except 
with  the  approval  of  the  chief  or  captain  of  police.  Smoking  is 
not  allowed  in  the  station  houses,  except  in  apartments  desig- 
nated by  the  captain  of  police,  with  the  approbation  of  the  chief. 
No  member  of  the  police  force  can  accept  any  extra  compensation 
whatsoever,  without  the  approval  of  the  Mayor ;  and  in  all  cases 
when  any  reward  or  gift  or  extra  compensation  is  approved  by 
the  Mayor,  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  amount  so  allowed,  shall  be  paid 
into  the  Providence  Police  Association,  for  the  relief  of  sick  or 
disabled  members. 

"As  to  the  trial  of  complaints,  all  complaints  made  against  any 
member  of  the  department,  except  those  made  by  a  superior  offi- 
cer, must  be  reduced  to  writing,  with  specifications,  and  signed 
by  the  party  making  the  complaint,  before  the  same  shall  be  in- 
vestigated ;  and  any  officer  whose  character  has  been  compro- 
mised, may  have  an  inquiry  as  to  the  truth  of  any  charges  against 
him,  upon  the  permission  of  the  Mayor.     For  minor  offences,  the 


EDWIN  LOWE, 
Alderman,  Eighth  Ward. 


OUR   POLICE.  131 

measure  of  punishment  is  determined  by  the  Chief  of  Police, 
with  the  approval  of  the  Mayor.  The  investigation  of  all  impor- 
tant charges  must  be  before  the  Police  Committee  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  the  evidence  is  taken  down  by  a  clerk,  and 
submitted,  with  the  report  of  the  committee,  to  the  Mayor  ;  and 
when  they  find  the  officer  guilty  of  any  irregularity  not  sufficient  to 
warrant  his  removal  from  the  force,  they  state  what  fine  should 
be  imposed  or  what  deduction  should  be  made  therefor  from  his 
compensation,  and  if  approved  by  the  Mayor,  such  deduction  or 
fine  is  made.  All  fines  go  into  the  fund  of  the  Providence  Police 
Association. 

"According  to  the  true  Rhode  Island  principle,  as  set  forth  in 
the  charter  and  the  constitution,  the  rules  declare  that  no  one  will 
be  appointed  on,  or  discharged  from  the  police  for  his  religious  or 
political  opinions,  and  officers  must  avoid  all  religious  and  political 
discussions  in  the  station  houses,  and  the  police  must  not  inter- 
fere or  make  use  of  their  office  in  elections,  but  may  quietly 
exercise  the  right  of  sufirage  as  other  citizens. 

"  Members  of  the  Police  Department  may  enter  the  shop  of 
any  pawnbroker,  or  dealer  in  junk  or  second-hand  articles,  and 
examine  the  books  and  the  property  therein,  and  if  resisted  or 
refused  permission  so  to  do,  the  case  should  be  reported  to  the 
Chief,  and  by  him  to  the  Mayor,  and  if  the  circumstances  justify 
it,  the  license  can  be  revoked.  The  Captains,  Lieutenants  and 
Sergeants  of  Police  may  inspect  the  shops  of  persons  licensed  to 
buy  and  sell  junk  and  second-hand  articles,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  Chief  of  Police  and  Superintendent  of  Hacks  are  so  autho- 
rized by  chapter  26  of  the  ordinances  of  the  City  of  Providence. 

"  In  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire  in  the  day-time  the  officers  on 
patrol  duty  in  the  district  where  the  fire  occurs,  and  all  other 
officers  of  the  force  not  on  patrol  duty  (except  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  police  station),  must  repair  at  once  to  the  fire  and 
act  as  fire  police.  The  officers  upon  patrol  duty  in  the  adjoining 
districts  will  cover  the  beats  left  vacant. 

"In  case  of  fire  or  other  emergency,  either  in  the  night  or  day 
time,  the  officer  first  arriving  shall  have  command  of  the  other 
officers  present  until  the  arrival  of  a  superior  officer,  and  upon 


132  OUR   POLICE. 

the  arrival  of  the  Captain  of  the  District,  he  will  have  command 
of  all  the  patrolmen  present,  until  the  arrival  of  a  superior 
officer. 

"A  member  of  the  Police  Department  must  be  a  qualified 
elector  for  general  officers  in  the  city,  '  not  under  twenty-one  nor 
over  thirty-eight  years  of  age  when  first  appointed:  to  be  in 
fitature  not  less  than  five  feet  eight  and  one-half  inches;  in 
weight,  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds,  and 
minimum  circumference  of  chest,  not  less  than  thirty-four  inches ; 
that  there  shall  be  a  diiference  of  at  least  two  inches  at  forced 
expiration  and  on  full  inspiration;  that  with  additional  height 
there  shall  be  an  increase,  in  a  proportionate  degree,  of  chest 
measurement,  but  in  no  case  of  additional  height  shall  the  mini- 
mum circumference  of  the  chest  exceed  forty-two  inches,  nor  the 
weight  of  the  applicant  exceed  two  hundred  pounds.'  He  must 
be  of  sound  health  and  vigor,  without  any  predisposition,  either 
hereditary  or  acquired,  to  any  constitutional  disease ;  of  unques- 
tionable energy  and  courage;  of  temperate  and  industrious 
habits;  of  peaceable  and  courteous  manners;  decorous  and 
cleanly  in  his  person  and  dress;  respectful  to  his  superiors; 
prompt  and  decided  in  action,  and  disposed  to  be  zealous  in  the 
service.  He  must  also  be  able  to  read  and  write  the  English 
language,  and  must  present  his  petition  in  his  own  handwriting." 

"Are  the  physical  qualifications  readily  found?"  asked  the 
writer. 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  replied  Alderman  Lowe,  "  that  many 
applicants  are  rejected  for  physical  reasons.  The  growing  pref- 
erence of  American  young  men  for  sedentary  pursuits  is  causing 
an  increase  in  the  proportion  of  policemen  of  foreign  birth  and 
parentage." 

"  The  Police  Committee,"  added  Alderman  Lowe,  "  although 
believing  that  the  Providence  Police  have  no  superiors  in  the 
country,  keep  their  eyes  open  for  any  improvement  likely  to  add 
to  the  efficiency  of  the  force.  The  adoption  of  a  patrol  wagon 
has  been  a  subject  of  discussion  and  investigation.  The  anarchist 
riots  in  Chicago  called  attention  to  its  uses  on  such  occasions,  and 
it  has  since  been  adopted  in  many  other  leading  cities." 


HENKY  T.  BOOT, 

Alderman,  Seventli  Ward. 
(See  page  118.) 


»   »•  • 


.••    !  •  .  • 


OUR   POLICE.  135 

In  connection  with  Alderman  Lowe's  allusion  to  a  patrol 
wagon,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  describe  the  system  of  police 
signals  and  alarms  used  in  other  cities.  There  has  been  little 
progress  in  police  methods;  for  the  old  system,  coming  down 
from  the  time  when  watchmen  patrolled  the  streets  with  lantern, 
bill-hook  and  rattle,  has  been  substantially  followed.  The  patrol- 
man has  been  sent  to  his  route,  post  or  beat,  to  act  for  himself; 
and  once  there,  he  is  cut  off  from  all  communication  with  his 
superiors,  and  is  free  from  all  surveillance,  except  it  may  be  the 
occasional  visit  of  a  sergeant  or  inspector.  Police  authorities 
have  long  felt  that  this  was  not  satisfactory,  and  have  desired 
some  simple  and  effective  method  of  electric  intercommunication 
and  control,  by  which  each  officer,  instead  of  being  a  "free 
lance"  might  be  made  a  component  part  of  a  great  machine,  and 
this  demand  the  Municipal  Signal  Company  of  Boston,  Mass., 
are  able  to  satisfy  with  their  Police  Alarm  and  Intercommuni- 
cation System,  which  meets  all  of  the  requirements  a  long  and 
careful  study  of  the  subject  has  shown  to  be  either  necessary  or 
desirable. 

In  this  system,  numbered  signal-boxes,  containing  telephones 
and  automatic  signaling  instruments,  are  placed  upon  walls  or 
lamp-posts  at  proper  distances  from  each  other  on  every  patrol- 
man's beat,  and  are  electrically  connected  with  the  police-station, 
and  from  them  the  patrolmen  can  either  telephone  or  automati- 
cally transmit  different  messages  to  the  station-house;  or,  the 
station-house  can  signal  the  patrolmen;  and  citizens  can  also 
readily  summon  police  assistance  from  any  signal-box.  In  con- 
nection with  the  signal-boxes,  a  wagon  called  the  patrol-wagon, 
provided  with  stretchers,  splints,  surgical  appliances,  etc.,  to  be 
used  in  case  of  accidents,  stands  at  the  station-house  ready  for 
instant  dispatch  to  any  point  where  its  presence  is  necessary. 
This  wagon  carries  several  police  officers,  and  whenever  a  police- 
man makes  an  arrest,  or  is  in  need  of  assistance,  or  wants  an 
ambulance,  he  signals  for  this  wagon,  and  when  it  reaches  him 
the  arrested  or  wounded  person,  or  persons,  as  the  case  may  be, 
are  turned  over  to  the  officers  in  the  wagon,  who  then  drive  back 
to  the  station-house,  and  leave  the  officer  still  covering  his  beat. 

In  order  that  the  practical  working  of  the  system  may  be  un- 


136 


OUR   POLICE. 


derstood,  let  us  suppose  that  a  police  precinct  is  equipped  with 
street  stations,  or  boxes,  so  that  every  patrolman  passes  at  least 
two  of  them  during  the  tour  of  his  route,  post,  or  beat.  In  such 
a  case,  each  patrolman  would  be  required  to  turn  the  pointers  of 
the  boxes  passed  by  him  during  each  tour,  to  the  number  on  the 
dial  indicative  of  the  route,  post,  or  beat  he  is  patrolling,  and 
actuate  the  pull.  This  operation  would  cause  the  signal  and 
time  recording  instruments  in  the  station-house  to  plainly  record 
the  fact  that  the  patrolmen  patrolling  certain  routes,  posts,  or 
beats,  had  signaled  from  certain  points  at  certain  times,  and  an 


Fig.  1. 

inspection  of  this  record  will  readily  show  how  many  times,  and 
at  what  intervals  each  route,  post,  or  beat  in  the  entire  precinct 
or  district  had  been  patrolled  during  any  given  period. 

Should  the  officer  in  charge  at  the  station-house  wish  to  speak 
to  the  patrolmen  on  street  duty  he  can  put  himself  into  telephonic 
communication  with  them  by  manually  sounding  the  gongs  in 
the  boxes  whenever  a  patrol  signal  is  received,  or  he  can  forestall 
the  arrival  of  the  patrolmen  in  turn  at  the  street  boxes,  by  merely 
setting  a  switch  which  causes  an  incoming  patrol  signal  to 
automatically  sound  the  box  gongs  and  thereby  summon  them 
to  use  their  telephones. 

Thus  each  patrolman,  individually,  makes  an  indelible  time 


OUR   POLICE. 


13T 


record  of  his  visits  to  the  signal  boxes,  and  at  the  same  time  he 
is  notified  whether  the  station-house  has  anything  to  say  to  him, 
or  otherwise  ;  all  without  the  intervention  of  special  operator  or 
attendant. 

An  efficient  Police  Alarm  and  Wagon  system,  electrically  con- 
trolled, is  not  an  added  expense  to  a  municipality,  l)ut  is,  in  fact, 
a  real  economy ;  for  by  its  use  the  police  force  is  practically 
largely  increased  in  numbers  and  efficiency,  as  with  it,  it  is  un- 
necessary for  a  police  officer  to  leave  his  beat.     While  without  it, 


Fig.  2. 

where  an  officer  has  to  take  a  prisoner  to  the  station-house,  not 
only  is  his  beat  uncovered  during  his  absence,  which  may  be  for 
an  hour  or  more,  but  frequently  officers  from  neighboring  beats 
are  obliged  to  assist  him,  thus  leaving  several  beats  unprotected 
at  once;  audit  is  apparent  that  a  given  number  of  patrolmen 
can,  by  the  aid  of  the  alarm  system,  more  effectually  protect  a 
much  larger  area  of  territory  than  they  could  a  smaller  area 
"without  it.  Furthermore,  every  key  held  by  a  citizen  is  really 
an  additional  police  officer  serving  without  remuneration. 


138  OUR   POLICE. 

In  turbulent  districts  policemen  are  often  assaulted  by  the  mob 
■which  gradually  gathers  and  follows  in  the  wake  of  an  oflBcer 
while  he  is  engaged  in  taking  an  arrested  person  to  the  station- 
house.  The  assault  usually  takes  the  form  of  an  attempted 
rescue  of  the  prisoner,  and  lives  have  not  infrequently  been 
sacrificed  in  such  encounters.  But  with  an  alarm  and  wagon 
system  in  operation  the  quickness  with  which  assistance  arrives, 
and  the  celerity  with  which  a  prisoner  is  conveyed  to  the  station, 
discourages  such  attempts ;  so  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  assaults 
will  be  made  on  the  police  wherever  the  system  is  in  use,  and 
the  demoralizing  spectacle  of  a  refractory  prisoner  being  dragged 
or  clubbed  through  the  streets  will  be  entirely  avoided.  Every 
policeman  feels  that  he  is  not  alone,  and  gains  added  courage  in 
the  performance  of  his  duty  from  the  knowledge  that  he  can  at 
any  time  have  all  the  assistance  he  needs,  should  he  desire  it ; 
and  not  only  does  the  police  officer  recognise  this  fact,  but  so  do 
also  the  criminal  classes. 

A  large  body  of  police,  by  its  aid,  can  be  quickly  concentrated' 
in  any  desired  locality,  and  street  disturbances  or  riots  can  be 
much  more  rapidly  quelled,  while  by  means  of  the  telephone  a 
general  alarm  and  accurate  description  of  criminals  can  quickly 
be  given  to  the  entire  police  force,  and  their  escape  rendered 
very  difficult,  or  impossibfe. 

Without  the  signal  system  a  police  force  patrolling  the  streets 
is  really  a  series  of  detached  and  unsupported  out-posts,  practi- 
cally without  any  base,  while  with  it  the  policemen  support  each 
other,  and  the  entire  force  can  act  together  as  a  unit,  the  patrol- 
men, as  it  were,  continually  passing  in  review  before  the  com- 
manding officer,  with  facilities  for  intercommunication  almost  as 
good  as  if  they  were  in  his  immediate  presence. 

The  comparative  economy  of  the  Municipal  Signal  Company's 
System  is  obvious,  and  the  cost  of  its  introduction  and  mainte- 
nance is  very  small  in  proportion  to  the  advantages  gained. 

Among  its  many  advantages  the  most  obvious  are  that  police- 
men must  perform  the  duties  for  which  the  city  pays.  Shirking 
work,  excuses,  or  collusion  with  the  roundsmen  is  impossible. 
Each  officer  must  watch  himself.  Beats  are  never  unprotected. 
The  force  is  strengthened,  and  a  given  number  of  men  can  better 
perform  the  work  required  than  double  its  numbers  unaided  by 
the  Municipal  System.  No  additional  man  is  required  to  operate 
the  station-house  outfit.  No  special  street  enclosure  is  required, 
and  the  cost  of  the  expensive  unsightly  sentry  box  obstruction 
used  in  a  simple  telephone  system  is  saved. 


BENJAMIN  E.  KINSLEY, 
Alderman,  Ninth  Ward. 


OUR   POLICE.  141 

Alderman  Benjamin  E.  Kinsley,  associate  member  of  the  Police 
Committee,  was  born  in  Providence,  June  1,  1837,  educated  in 
the  public  schools,  and  graduated  from  the  Providence  High 
School,  in  1851.  Mr.  Kinsley  at  once  entered  into  the  employ 
of  his  father,  a  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  dealer,  and  the  young 
man  proved  so  apt  and  devoted  to  business,  that  the  elder  Kinsley 
decided  to  take  him  into  partnership,  the  firm  being  formed  June 
1,  1860,  under  the  name  of  Shepard  C.  Kinsley  &  Son.  The 
firm  is  too  well-known  in  Providence  to  call  for  any  commenda- 
tion here.  Mr.  Kinsley  added  largely  to  the  prosperous  business 
founded  by  his  father,  and  the  house  acquired  an  estimable  and 
enviable  position  in  the  trade.  In  1882  Mr.  Kinsley  retired 
with  an  ample  competence. 

Mr.  Kinsley  was  elected  to  the  Common  Council  as  a  Repub- 
lican, November,  1881,  from  the  old  Seventh  Ward,  and  served 
his  ward  in  this  position  until  1887.  In  November,  1887,  he 
was  unanimously  elected  Alderman  from  the  new  Ninth  Ward. 
While  in  the  Common  Council  Mr.  Kinsley  exercised  a  merited 
influence  in  city  affairs,  serving  on  the  Joint  Committees  on 
Highways,  the  Harbor,  City  Engineer's  Department,  and  City 
Debt.  He  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Highways  in 
1885-'86.  In  the  Board  of  Aldermen  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Committees  on  Police,  Streets,  and  Health,  and  of  the  Joint 
Committees  on  Sewers,  Water,  Accounts,  and  Revision  of  the 
City  Charter.  Mr.  Kinsley  has  a  daughter  married  to  Foster 
Coates,  Esq.,  Managing  Editor  of  the  New  York  Mail  and  Ex" 
press,  and  well-known  throughout  the  country  as  a  graphic  and 
talented  writer. 

"No  more  efficient  body  of  men  exists  in  the  United  States 
than  the  Pfovidence  Police  Force,"  remarked  Mr.  Kinsley  to 
the  writer.  "  Despite  a  popular  impression  to  the  contrary,  the 
Providence  police  officer  is  a  hard-worked  man,  and  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  he  earns  all  the  pay  he  receives.  At  each  and  every 
step  he  has  some  rule  to  observe,  and  his  situation  is  no  sinecure. 
When  on  night  patrol  duty,  he  has,  in  the  first  place,  to  try  his 
doors ;  that  is  to  say,  he  should  ascertain  beyond  peradventure, 
that  no  aperture  through  which  a  thief  can  enter  is  open  or  inse- 


142 


OUR   POLICE. 


cure.  Temptations  beset  him  on  every  hand,  in  the  shape  of  free 
liquor  and  cigars,  providing  he  returns  the  compliment  by  closing 
his  eyes  to  violation  of  law.  He  may  have  the  monotony  of 
patrol  duty  disturbed  by  a  tussel  or  two  with  refractory  prisoners. 
This  means  violent  walking  exercise,  occasionally  varied  with 
wrestles,  blows,  kicks,  rolling  in  the  gutter,  and  general  demor- 
alization by  the  time  the  prisoner  is  landed  in  the  station  house. 
True,  the  day  patrolman  is  not  hampered  by  *  trying  doors,'  but 
he  must  see  that  the  numerous  city  ordinances  are  observed,  that 
the  laws  of  the  State  are  obeyed,  and  he  is  presumed  to  be  a 
perambulating  sign  post  and  city  directory  for  the  benefit  of 
strangers.  Every  arrest  occasions  an  attendance  at  court,  and 
consequent  loss  of  time  when  'off  duty,'  and  fires,  processions, 
and  other  events  often  call  him  to  extra  and  sometimes  hazard- 
ous service." 

"It  is  true,"  added  the  Alderman,  "that  policemen  sometimes 
make  mistakes,  that  even  deliberate  wrong  is  sometimes  commit- 
ted. But  no  class  of  men  fall  from  grace  less  •  frequently  than 
policemen,  and  none  are  more  quickly  detected,  while  the  story 
of  their  short-comings  is  given  unusual  publicity.  They  have  a 
justifiable  pride  in  maintaining  good  order.  They  take  a  perso- 
nal interest  in  it,  and  are  an  honorable,  intelligent  and  straight- 
forward body  of  men,  keenly  alert  at  all  times." 

Like  his  associate,  Alderman  Kinsley  takes  a  marked  interest 
in  the  force,  and  gives  intelligent  consideration  to  everything 
bearing  upon  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  its  efficiency. 
He  is  deeply  interested  in  the  efibrts  to  provide  a  pension  for 
superannuated  and  disabled  officers.  "  In  New  York,"  said  Mr. 
Kinsley,  "a  reasonable  pension  is  provided  for:  captains  being 
pensioned  at  $1,000;  sergeants,  $750,  and  patrolmen^  $550.  In 
Philadelphia  the  highest  pension  is  $300,  and  the  lowest  $75, 
and  this  is  provided  for  by  a  tax  of  two  per  cent,  on  the  police- 
men's salary,  a  tax  which  the  New  York  courts  have  pronounced 
unlawful,  on  the  ground  that  the  policeman  is  entitled  to  his  full 
salary,  without  any  deduction  of  this  character.  In  Baltimore 
the  Board  of  Police  is  authorized  to  pay  their  regular  salaries  for 
a  considerable  time  to  officers  unable  to  attend  to  their  duties  by 


OUR   POLICE.  143 

reason  of  sickness  or  disability,  and  also  to  pension  for  life 
superannuated  or  disabled  policemen,  to  an  amount  not  exceed- 
ing one  third  their  monthly  pay :  ^Provided,  Such  officer  shall 
have  served  faithfully  not  less  than  sixteen  years,  or  shall  have 
been  permanently  disabled  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  as  an 
officer. '  The  pension  may  be  suspended,  or,  in  case  of  persistence, 
entirely  withdrawn,  upon  proof  that  the  pensioner  is  leading  an 
improper  or  immoral  life.  Here,  in  Providence,  we  carry  along 
a  few  superannuated  officers  on  a  reduced  allowance,  barely  suffi- 
cient for  their  decent  support,  and  put  some  of  them  not  fit  for 
active  duty  in  positions  that  would  have  to  be  otherwise  filled  by 
able-bodied  men.  I  hope  that  the  Mayor's  message  of  this  year 
on  the  subject  of  providing  for  disabled  policemen  and  firemen 
will  result  in  some  adequate  action  being  taken." 


A^-^*£^ 


144  OUB  POLICE. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  POLICE  FORCE. — DUTIES  OF  TSB  CHIEF 
OF  POLICE. — THE  DEPUTY  CHIEF. — CAPTAINS,  LIEUTENANTS, 
SERGEANTS. — THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  HACKS. — CLERK  OF 
POLICE. — THE  DETECTIVES. — PATROLMEN. — DRESS  UNIFORM 
OF  THE  FORCE. — NO  SUCH  OFFICIAL  AS  A  POLICE  SURGEON.— 
RULES  FOR  THE  POLICE  SURGEON. 

Before  going  farther,  it  may  be  well  to  describe  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  police  force,  as  at  present  organized.  Under  the  law, 
the  police  force  consists  of  a  Chief  of  Police,  and  not  exceeding 
two  hundred  police  constables,  fit  for  active  duty.  The  Chief  of 
Police  may  or  may  not  have  been  elected  from  the  body  of  the 
force.  Like  certain  other  city  officials  he  is  chosen  annually  by 
the  City  Council,  and  his  official  career  terminates  with  the  close 
of  the  municipal  year.  It  is  the  custom  to  re-elect  a  Chief,  un- 
less he  retires  of  his  own  accord,  and  this  rule  has  had  but  two 
exceptions  since  the  office  was  created.  The  Chief  is  in  effect, 
therefore,  a  public  official,  delegated  in  behalf  of  the  citizens,  to 
control  and  direct  the  police  force,  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
authority  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen. 

The  Chief  is  also  the  public  prosecutor  of  the  city,  and  this  is 
a  trust  not  less  important  than  the  direction  of  the  police.  He 
exercises  in  the  city  the  authority  exercised  in  towns  by  the 
Town  Sergeants,  who,  within  the  past  two  years,  under  the  Dis- 
trict Court  system,  have  also,  as  a  rule,  been  appointed  Chiefs  of 
Police  in  their  respective  towns.  No  public  prosecution  can  be 
instituted  without  his  sanction.  Every  citizen  has,  of  course, 
the  right,  upon  giving  required  security  for  costs,  to  enter  a 
criminal  complaint,  but  the  Chief  of  Police  alone  can  enter  such 
complaints  without  surety.  Practically,  therefore,  all  criminal 
prosecutions  within  the  bounds  of  the  municipality  pass  under 
his  hand  and  seal.     The  gravity  of  this  trust  can  readily  b© 


OUR   POLICE.  145 

appreciated.  In  the  hands  of  a  rash  or  evil-disposed  person  ft 
would  be  more  than  dangerous.  When  one  reflects  upon  the 
peculiarities  of  Rhode  Island  law,  upon  the  number  of  statutory 
provisions,  and  common  law  offences  which  public  opinion  sees  fit 
to  condone  or  ignore,  and  the  literal  enforcement  of  which — as, 
for  example,  the  law  against  taking  recreation  on  Sunday — 
would  be  not  only  harshness,  but  cruelty,  it  is  easy  to  compre- 
hend the  mischief  that  might  be  done  by  a  reckless  or  ill-balanced 
Chief  of  Police.  And  yet  those  ancient  laws  have  their  uses, 
and  occasions  may  be  imagined  which  would  call  for  their  execu- 
tion in  the  interest  of  public  decorum.  It  is  for  the  Chief  of  Police 
to  discern  such  occasions,  without  interfering  with  innocent  pur- 
suits and  harmless  indulgences. 

In  the  trial  of  weightier  cases  the  Chief  of  Police  has  the  val- 
uable service  of  the  City  Solicitor,  Col.  Nicholas  Van  Slyck,  or 
his  assistant,  but  the  minor  cases  he  often  conducts  himself,  and 
upon  him  also  falls  the  burden  of  preparation.  The  records  of 
the  Providence  courts  bear  evidence  that  the  duties  of  public 
prosecutor  have  been  faithfully  performed  both  by  the  present 
Chief,  and  by  his  predecessors. 

Once  a  month  the  Chief  must  instruct  the  captains  in  some 
branch  of  their  duty,  and  see  that  the  captains,  as  often  as  once 
each  week,  give  similar  instructions  to  their  men.  As  often  as 
opportunity  permits,  he  must  cause  as  large  a  number  of  the 
members  of  the  department  as  can  be  spared  from  their  other 
duties,  to  be  drilled  together  in  military  movements  and  evolutions, 
so  that  they  may  act  efficiently  and  in  concert  when  called  upon 
to  suppress  riots  or  disorders.  He  keeps  a  book,  in  which  com- 
plaints may  be  made  by  citizens  against  members  of  the  depart- 
ment, and  another,  in  which  violations  of  the  laws  and  ordinances, 
crimes,  misdemeanors,  articles  lost  and  other  similar  matters  shall 
be  entered,  and  he  must  cause  prompt  attention  to  be  paid  to  such 
complaints  or  information.  He  may  suspend  from  duty  for 
not  longer  than  one  week,  or  fine  any  member  of  the  depart- 
ment the  amount  of  one  week's  pay,  for  cause,  and  may  grant 
furloughs,  of  not  exceeding  one  week,  to  any  member,  making 
report  thereof  to  the  Mayor  for  approval. 


146  OUR   POLICE. 

The  Chief  is  required  to  keep  the  City  Solicitor  and  Attorney 
General  informed  of  all  matters  that  pertain  to  their  several 
offices,  relating  to  the  police  or  interests  of  the  city,  or  to  any 
breach  of  the  laws  or  ordinances,  and  to  use  his  best  efforts  to 
bring  offenders  to  punishment.  He  must  see  that  the  station 
houses  are  provided  with  copies  of  the  "Public  Statutes,"  and 
the  "  Schedules  of  the  General  Assembly,"  as  issued,  the  "  City 
Ordinances,"  all  "  City  Documents,"  as  issued,  the  "  Providence 
Directory,"  some  system  of  drill,  an  "English  Dictionary,"  and 
the  "  Bible,"  and  furnish  each  member  of  the  department  with  a 
copy  of  the  rules  and  orders  for  the  government  of  the  force, 
together  with  a  map  of  the  city. 

Whenever  a  disregard  of  any  law,  ordinance  or  order  prevails 
to  an  extent  prejudicial  to  the  well-being  of  the  city,  the  Chief 
must  cause  the  said  law,  ordinance  or  order  to  be  published  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  city,  or  in  handbills  or  circulars,  calling 
the  attention  of  the  public  thereto.  He  records  in  a  book  reports 
from  the  police  of  all  defects  in  the  highways,  violations  of 
the  building  laws  and  cases  of  nuisance,  and  takes  measures  to 
have  the  same  removed.  He  also  keeps  a  record  of  all  accidents 
whereby  the  city  may  become  chargeable,  with  the  circumstances, 
names  of  witnesses,  and  a  partial  description  of  the  locality. 

He  must  also  keep  a  record  of  all  intelligence  offices,  junk 
shops,  and  dealers  in  second-hand  articles,  pawnbrokers,  theatres, 
billiard  rooms,  bagatelle  rooms,  bowling  saloons,  and  other  places 
of  amusement,  and  see  that  the  laws,  ordinances,  and  rules  for 
their  government  are  observed ;  also  of  all  suspected  gambling 
houses,  drinking  saloons,  and  houses  of  ill-repute,  and  of  all  con- 
victed persons  who  may  become  dangerous  to  the  community.  In 
another  book  the  Chief  registers  alphabetically  the  names  of  all 
licensed  houses,  or  persons  to  whom,  on  petition,  license  has  not 
been  granted,  and  also  of  those  to  whom  license  has  been  granted 
but  subsequently  revoked,  with  the  name  and  number  of  the 
street  where  each  carries  on  business.  And  he  must  see  that  all 
such  persons  duly  licensed  keep  the  requisite  books,  and  in  all 
things  conform  to  the  requirements  of  the  laws  and  ordinances 


JOHN  CASEY, 

Alderman,  Tenth  Ward. 
(See  page  121.) 


«<         t     €       "» 


«*  •    b 


OUR    POLICE.  149 

regulating  their  trade;  and  he  must  inspect  said  books,  from 
time  to  time,  as  often,  at  least,  as  once  a  month. 

The  Chief  must  also  keep  a  record  of  the  name  of  every  person 
arrested  by  the  police  force,  with  the  name  of  the  arresting  officer 
and  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  station-house  at  the  time  of  the  arrest, 
the  nation,  age,  height,  complexion,  weight,  residence,  and  oflfence 
of  the  prisoner,  and  the  number  of  his  cell.  He  must  cause  the 
prisoner  to  be  properly  searched,  and  whatever  is  taken  for  safe 
keeping  to  be  properly  entered  upon  the  books,  and  also  keep  a 
record  of  the  result  of  the  arrest,  and  the  day  and  the  hour  that 
the  prisoner  is  removed  from  his  custody,  with  the  nature  of  the 
sentence,  if  taken  before  a  court.  He  is  also  required  to  keep 
for  reference  a  daily  record  of  burglaries,  robberies,  larcenies, 
amount  of  property  lost  or  stolen,  assaults,  disturbances,  lost 
children,  fires,  dangerous  places,  and  accidents,  with  the  cause 
and  proofs,  and  of  all  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  police  de- 
partment, including  a  daily  account  of  the  regular  and  extra 
duties  done  by  the  police  force.  The  Chief  must  also  submit 
daily  and  monthly  reports  to  the  Mayor,  and  receive  and  keep 
all  property  coming  into  the  possession  of  officers  of  the  stations, 
by  virtue  of  their  office ;  mark  and  keep  together,  and  separate 
the  property  taken  from  each  person,  and  keep  a  record  of  the 
same ;  and  property  holden  for  evidence  shall  be  delivered  by 
order  of  court,  and  all  other  property  holden  shall,  as  soon  as 
possible,  be  delivered  to  the  lawful  owner,  and  a  receipt  taken 
therefor ;  and  all  property  remaining  at  the  close  of  each  quarter 
shall  be  delivered  or  reported  to  the  Mayor. 

The  Deputy  Chief  of  Police  is  under  the  immediate  direction 
of  the  Chief,  and  required  to  assist  him  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  the  Chief  shall  direct. 
He  also  officiates  for  the  Chief  in  his  absence.  He  may  suspend 
any  member  of  the  police  force  for  cause,  and  shall  immediately 
report  such  suspension,  with  the  cause  thereof,  to  the  Chief. 

Every  Captain  of  Police  must  be  at  his  station  house  at  all 
times  during  the  day,  unless  absent  on  official  duty.  He  has  the 
general  charge  of  his  station  house.  In  his  absence  he  must  de- 
tail a  sergeant  or  other  officer  to  be  constantly  in  charge  to 


150  OUR   POLICE. 

receive  prisoners,  attend  to  calls,  answer  the  applications  of  citi- 
zens, and  to  attend  to  other  business  properly  belonging  to  the 
department.  He  visits  each  beat  as  often  as  twice  a  week,  and 
notes  the  condition  of  the  streets,  sidewalks,  street  lights,  obstruc- 
tions and  non-compliance  with  city  ordinances,  and  all  other 
matters  requiring  the  attention  of  the  police  in  his  district.  He 
reports  to  the  Chief  all  cases  of  contagious  disease,  and  any  neg- 
ligence which  may  expose  the  city  to  danger  by  fire,  and  all  mat- 
ters which  require  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works 
or  the  Superintendent  of  Health.  The  Captain  has  immediate 
control  of  the  patrolmen  detailed  for  duty  in  this  district.  He 
must  call  the  roll  at  eight  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  six  o'clock  P.  M., 
eack  day,  then  communicating  all  necessary  information  and 
orders,  and  at  such  other  times  as  the  Chief  shall  order ;  noting 
and  reporting  any  negligence  in  attire,  want  of  cleanliness  or  of 
neatness,  or  other  improper  personal  habit,  and  report  to  the 
Chief  every  case  of  sickness,  misconduct,  insubordination,  neglect 
or  unfitness  for  duty,  and  preserve  order  and  discipline  at  the  sta- 
tion house.  He  is  required,  as  often  as  once  a  week  at  roll  call, 
to  put  the  men  through  the  simple  military  formation,  and  in  line 
and  evolutions,  and  once  each  week  instruct  them  as  to  their  con- 
duct at  fires  or  riots,  in  making  arrests  or  complaints,  as  to 
defects  in  the  highway,  nuisance  and  accidents,  in  procuring  in- 
formation and  other  matters  pertaining  to  their  duty.  He  must 
also  see  that  each  man  has  his  copy  of  rules  and  orders,  and  duly 
observes  them.  He  divides,  with  the  approval  of  the  Mayor  and 
Chief,  his  district  into  beats  for  night  duty,  so  that  the  whole 
territory  shall  be  covered  at  all  times  by  officers  on  duty,  except 
at  roll  calls  and  as  circumstances  shall  require,  placing  each  offi- 
cer, as  far  as  practicable,  where  he  will  be  most  useful  and  efficient. 
The  Captain  is  required  to  receive  into  his  custody  and  safely 
keep  all  persons  arrested  in  his  district  by  the  patrol  under  his 
command,  and  transmit  them  to  the  first  station  in  charge  of  the 
reserve,  at  the  time  of  leaving  in  the  morning,  or  sooner  if 
deemed  expedient ;  keeping  a  record  of  all  persons  so  arrested, 
their  offence,  the  time  of  arrest  and  the  name  and  number  of  the 
arresting  officer.     He  must  daily  transcribe,  from  his  blotter  and 


OUR    POLICE.  161 

journal  to  his  morning  report,  a  true  copy  of  all  matters  of  im- 
portance there  recorded  for  the  twenty-four  hours  ending  at  eight 
o'clock  A.  M.,  and  present  said  report  to  the  Chief  at  nine 
o'clock  A.  M.,  of  the  same  day  ;  at  the  same  time  reporting  the 
number  of  men  on  duty  of  his  command,  the  number  and  names 
of  those  absent,  and  the  cause  thereof.  He  must  also  report  the 
name  of  every  person  arrested  by  the  officers  of  his  command, 
the  name  of  the  arresting  officer,  also  the  nation,  age,  height, 
complexion,  weight,  residence  and  offence  of  the  prisoner,  and 
the  number  of  his  cell,  if  locked  up,  and  if  not  locked  up,  the 
reason  of  his  discharge. 

The  Captain  should  carefully  note  and  impartially  report  to 
the  Chief  the  case  of  every  officer,  by  name  and  number,  absent 
from  his  beat,  or  other  neglect  of  discipline  or  duty;  and  his 
failure  so  to  report  would  be  sufficient  cause  for  his  suspension 
or  discharge  from  the  service.  In  case  of  any  riot  or  sudden 
emergency  requiring  the  services  of  the  police,  if  in  the  daytime, 
the  Captain  of  the  district  in  which  such  riot  may  occur  should 
forthwith  proceed  to  the  scene  of  disturbance  with  the  whole 
police  force  he  can  muster,  and  be  vigilant  in  suppressing  the 
disorder.  Should  he  have  any  doubt  of  his  ability  to  preserve 
the  peace,  or  to  restore  order,  he  must  immediately  send  notice 
to  the  Chief  of  Police.  In  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire  in  the  night 
time  the  officers  on  the  two  adjoining  beats  of  the  district  must 
repair  at  once  to  the  fire  and  act  as  fire  police,  the  officers  on  the 
next  adjoining  beats  to  cover  those  loft  vacant.  The  Captain  of 
the  district  in  which  the  fire  occurs  must  also  repair  to  the  fire  with 
the  reserve  in  his  station,  to  keep  the  streets  clear  and  protect 
property,  that  the  officers  on  street  duty  may  return  as  soon  as 
practicable  to  their  beats.  If  the  reserve  at  his  station  be  not 
sufficient  he  should  order  the  reserve  from  the  district  adjoining 
and  nearest  the  fire,  and  if  these  be  not  sufficient  he  should  report 
the  same  to  the  Chief,  who  would  detail  such  portion  of  the  entire 
force  as  he  may  deem  necessary. 

The  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  gambling,  boisterous  or  inde- 
cent language  or  conduct,  and  profanity,  are  strictly  prohibited 
at  station-houses ;  and  the  Captain  or  officer  in  charge  should 


152  OUR    POLICE. 

report  every  violation  of  this  rule  to  the  Chief.  He  should  cause 
the  members  of  the  police  force  in  his  command  to  be  thoroughly 
instructed  in  the  "  school  of  the  soldier  and  company ;"  excepting 
those  parts  which  relate  exclusively  to  the  manual  of  arms. 

Each  Lieutenant,  in  the  absence  of  the  Captain,  has  charge  of 
the  station,  and  exercises  all  the  powers  and  performs  all  the 
duties  of  the  Captain,  and  is  held  to  like  responsibility.  He 
should  be  at  his  station  house  from  six  o'clock  P.  M.  to  eight 
o'clock  A.  M.,  daily,  unless  necessarily  absent  on  official  duty. 
In  case  of  any  riot  or  sudden  emergency  requiring  the  services  of 
the  police,  if  in  the  night  time,  the  Lieutenant  of  the  District  in 
which  such  riot  may  occur  should  forthwith  proceed  to  the  scene 
of  the  disturbance,  with  the  whole  police  force  he  can  muster, 
and  be  vigilant  in  suppressing  the  disorder.  Should  he  have  any 
doubts  of  his  ability  to  preserve  the  peace  or  restore  order  he 
ought  immediately  to  send  notice  to  the  Captain,  the  Chief,  or 
Deputy  Chief  of  Police. 

Each  Sergeant  has  the  immediate  charge  of  the  men  on  their 
beats  in  his  district,  and  should  instruct  and  assist  them  in  their 
duties.  When  on  duty  and  not  otherwise  detailed,  he  should 
constantly  and  faithfully  patrol  his  district,  visiting  each  beat  at 
least  twice  in  each  term  of  service ;  he  should  carefully  note  and 
report  to  the  captain  of  his  district  any  neglect  of  discipline  or 
duty. 

The  Superintendent  of  Hacks  has  general  superintendence  of 
all  vehicles  of  every  description  required  to  be  licensed,  collects 
licenses,  and  investigates  complaints. 

The  Clerk  of  Police  must  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  department.  He  is  required  to  keep  fully  and  accu- 
rately all  books,  records,  papers  and  reports  pertaining  to  the 
Police  Department. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Detective  Police  are  at  the  office  of  the 
Chief  of  Police,  City  Hall,  and  their  office  hours  are  at  such  times 
as  the  Chief  may  direct.  They  are  required  to  visit  the  railroad 
stations,  theatres  and  places  of  amusement,  all  public  gatherings, 
and  other  places  where  large  numbers  of  persons  collect ;  take 
notes  of  all  gaming  houses  and  houses  of  ill-repute,  and  all  per- 


OUR    POLICE.  153 

sons  who  may  reasonably  be  suspected  of  crime  or  evil  design, 
whether  residents  or  strangers,  and  keep  a  list  of  all  persons 
convicted  of  crime,  who  are  likely  to  be  dangerous  to  the  commu- 
nity. When  no  other  business  engages  their  attention,  they 
must  visit  the  most  thronged  thoroughfares  in  the  city,  noting 
persons  and  transactions  which  may  be  of  service  to  them  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties ;  and  they  must  not  only  use  their  best 
efforts  to  detect  the  criminal,  but  also  to  prevent  the  commission 
of  crime.  Should  there  be  occasion  to  send  one  of  their  number 
out  of  the  city,  county  or  State,  in  pursuit  of  any  fugitive  from 
justice,  this  may  be  allowed  by  permission  of  the  Chief  or  Mayor. 
But  all  his  expenses  and  a  reasonable  compensation  may  be  re- 
quired by  the  department,  of  the  parties  interested  in  the  appre- 
hension of  the  criminal,  as  a  condition  of  such  permission. 

Patrolmen  are  liable  to  be  called  into  service  for  any  portion 
of  the  day,  if  necessary.  The  ordinary  sphere  of  their  duty  is 
the  City  of  Providence  and  the  harbor ;  but  as  officers  clothed 
with  the  criminal  powers  of  constables,  they  may  be  required  to 
go  into  any  other  part  of  the  State  to  arrest  criminals,  or  for 
other  duties. 

Besides  the  duties  common  to  patrolmen  in  all  cities  the  pa- 
trolman may  arrest,  without  a  warrant,  any  person  reasonably 
suspected  of  having  committed  a  felony,  or  seen  committing  a 
breach  of  the  peace,  or  being  unduly  armed  with  a  dangerous 
weapon,  and  also  night  walkers.  He  may  also  examine  any 
person  whom  he  shall  see  walking  abroad  in  the  night  after  eleven 
o'clock,  and  whom  he  shall  have  reason  to  suspect  of  any  unlaw- 
ful design,  and  may  demand  of  him  his  business  abroad  at  such 
time,  and  whither  he  is  going.  When  any  party  charges  another 
with  crime  and  insists  that  the  party  so  charged  shall  be  taken 
into  custody,  the  officer  must  require  the  accuser,  if  unknown  to 
him,  or  if  there  is  any  other  sufficient  reason  for  it,  to  go  with 
the  accused  to  the  police  station.  A  similar  rule  has  recently 
been  cancelled  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  on  account  of  a  verdict 
against  an  officer  for  false  arrest. 

As  by  virtue  of  his  appointment  the  patrolman  can  act  officially 
in  criminal  matters  only,  he  must  not  render  assistance  in  any 


154  OUR   POLICE. 

civil  case  whatever,  except  to  prevent  a  breach  of  the  peace  or  to 
suppress  a  disturbance  actually  commenced.  He  must,  as  often 
as  directed  by  the  Mayor  or  Chief,  visit  the  public  schools  and 
obtain  from  the  teachers  the  names  and  residences  of  each  ab- 
sentee or  truant  child,  and  thereupon  visit  the  homes  of  such 
truants,  and  ascertain  the  cause  of  such  non-attendance  at  school, 
and  report  the  same  at  his  station. 

Policemen  wounded  or  otherwise  disabled,  while  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duty,  receive  pay  for  their  period  of  service 
necessarily  lost  in  recovering,  when  duly  certified  by  the  city 
physician,  or  other  physician  approved  by  the  Mayor,  provided 
such  pay  shall  not  continue  for  a  longer  time  than  two  months, 
unless  by  recommendation  of  the  Police  Committee  and  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  In  case  of  ordinary  sickness 
pay  is  allowed  for  three  days  upon  the  vouchers  of  the  Chief,  and 
for  fifteen  days  more,  and  no  longer,  at  the  discretion  of  *he 
Mayor. 

Every  police  officer  should  keep  a  private  record  of  his  work, 
with  day  and  date,  and  he  shall  enter  therein  all  matters  of  any 
importance  in  which  he  is  engaged  in  his  official  capacity,  whether 
at  court,  on  his  beat,  or  elsewhere,  and  also,  any  other  matter  of 
importance  that  comes  to  his  knowledge  connected  with  the  police 
of  this  city ;  and  when  his  book  is  full  it  should  be  carefully  pre- 
served for  future  use  or  reference. 

The  several  members  of  the  force  rank  in  order  as  follows : 

1.  The  Chief  of  Police. 

2.  The  Deputy  Chief  of  Police. 

3.  The  Captains  of  Police  according  to  the  date  of  their  origi- 
nal appointment. 

4.  The  Lieutenants  of  Police  according  to  the  date  of  their 
original  appointment. 

5.  The  Sergeants  of  Police  according  to  the  date  of  their 
original  appointment. 

6.  The  Superintendent  of  Hacks. 

7.  The  Clerk  of  Police. 

8.  The  Detective  Police. 

9.  The  Patrolmen  in  the  order  of  their  appointment. 


HENEY  V.  A.  JOSLIN, 

City  Clerk. 
(See  page  122.) 


OUR    POLICE.  157 

As  to  uniforms,  the  Chief  of  Police  wears  a  black  hat,  with 
gold  star  in  a  rosette  thereon ;  a  blue  dress  coat  with  police  but- 
tons and  shoulder  straps  on  the  coat  with  the  word  "  Chiet "  in- 
scribed thereon ;  a  black  vest  with  police  buttons ;  black  pants 
and  dark  blue  overcoat.  On  public  occasions  he  wears  a  buff 
vest  with  police  buttons.  The  Deputy  Chief  of  Police  wears  a 
black  hat,  with  gold  star  on  enamelled  leather  thereon ;  a  blue 
frock  coat  with  police  buttons,  and  shoulder  straps  on  the  coat, 
with  the  words  "  Deputy  Chief"  inscribed  thereon;  a  black  vest 
with  police  buttons ;  black  pants  and  a  dark  blue  overcoat.  On 
public  occasions  he  wears  a  buff  vest  with  police  buttons. 

Captains,  Lieutenants  and  Sergeants  wear  a  dark  blue  double- 
breasted  frock  coat  with  police  buttons ;  dark  blue  pants;  a  dark 
blue  vest,  single-breasted,  made  to  button  up  to  the  top.  Cap- 
tains also  wear  upon  the  coat  shoulder  straps  with  the  word 
"  Captain "  and  the  number  of  the  district  inscribed  thereon. 
Lieutenants  wear  upon  the  coat  shoulder  straps  with  the  word 
^'  Lieutenant"  and  the  number  of  the  district  inscribed  thereon; 
and  Sergeants  should  wear  upon  the  coat  above  the  elbow  infantry 
chevrons.  Captains  and  Lieutenants  also  wear  a  blue  cloth  navy 
cap.  Captains,  Lieutenants,  Sergeants  and  patrolmen  wear  an 
overcoat  of  dark  blue,  double  breasted,  with  portable  cape  to  but- 
ton under  the  chin,  and  police  buttons, — the  suits  to  be  all  cut 
and  made  in  uniform  style.  Patrolmen  wear  a  single-breasted 
dark  blue  frock  coat  with  police  buttons ;  dark  blue  pants,  a  dark 
blue  vest,  single-breasted,  made  to  button  up  to  the  top,  with 
police  buttons,  and  a  police  helmet,  such  as  may  be  prescribed. 
They  wear :  the  Captains  a  red  leather  belt,  the  Lieutenants  a 
maroon  colored  belt,  the  Sergeants  a  blue  leather  belt,  and  the 
patrolmen  a  black  leather  belt  around  the  waist,  and  their  club, 
twenty  inches  in  length,  is  worn  in  a  frog  on  the  outside  of  the  coat. 
An  india  rubber  cap -cover  and  portable  cape  are  allowed  in  wet 
weather.  The  style  and  material  of  all  shoulder  and  other  straps 
are  prescribed  by  the  Mayor.  The  police  badge  is  worn  upon 
the  left  breast  and  upon  the  outside  of  the  outer  garment,  plainly 
exposed  to  view  at  all  times  when  on  duty  before  the  public, 
unless  by  permission  of  the  Mayor,  the  Chief,  Deputy  Chief, 


158  OUR   POLICE. 

Captain  or  Lieutenant  of  Police  of  the  district  in  which  the  offi- 
cer is  detailed. 

The  rules  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  provide  the  duties  of  a 
Police  Surgeon ;  but  there  is  no  such  official.  In  December, 
1878,  an  ordinance  was  adopted  by  both  branches  of  the  City 
Council,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  Police  Surgeon,  who 
should  hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
attend  to  police  officers  free  of  charge  to  them,  examine  appli- 
cants, etc.,  at  a  salary  of  $1,500  a  year.  Mayor  Doyle  vetoed 
the  proposed  ordinance  on  several  grounds,  one  being  that  the 
salary  designated  was  excessive  "  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
parsimonious  limit  fixed  for  some  city  officers,  whose  duties  were 
far  more  important  to  the  public  welfare."  He  also  argued  that 
a  policeman,  except  when  injured  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  had 
no  more  right  to  free  medical  attendance  than  a  fireman  or  school 
teacher.  He  thought  it  "  desirable  to  employ  a  person  as  Police 
Surgeon,"  but  that  his  tenure  of  office  and  duties  should  be 
difierent  from  those  prescribed.  It  was  a  season  when  the  cry  of 
economy  resounded  through  the  Council  and  Aldermanic  Cham- 
bers. The  veto  was  sustained,  the  subject  dropped,  and,  while 
the  rules  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  recognize  a  surgeon,  the  or- 
dinances do  not. 

By  the  rules,  the  Police  Surgeon  is  required  to  perform  such 
duties  as  may  be  ordered  by  the  Mayor  or  Board  of  Aldermen. 
He  should  daily  visit  all  officers  reported,  either  upon  the  police 
morning  report  or  at  evening  roll  call,  absent  by  reason  of  sick- 
ness, wounds  or  disability,  and  make  a  daily  report  to  the  Chief 
of  Police  of  their  physical  condition  and  the  probable  time  of 
their  return  to  duty  in  full  or  in  part.  On  the  first  day  of  each 
month  he  must  prepare  a  consolidated  report  for  the  Chief  of 
Police,  and  a  duplicate  for  the  Police  Committee  containing  the 
names  of  all  officers  who  have  been  reported  sick  during  the  next 
preceding  month,  the  number  of  days  that  each  has  been  absent 
by  reason  of  sickness  or  disability,  and  the  dates  when  any  have 
been  reported  for  duty  in  full  or  in  part,  which  should  be  accom- 
panied by  medical  certificates  of  the  prescribed  form,  certified  to 
or  approved  by  the  Police  Surgeon.     He  should  visit  and  inspect 


OUR   POLICE.  15i) 

each  month  the  several  police  stations,  and  make  a  report  in 
writing  to  the  Mayor  relative  to  their  sanitary  condition,  with 
such  recommendations  as  he  may  deem  necessary. 

Whenever,  by  reason  of  chronic  sickness,  debility  or  recurring 
disease,  or  from  probable  prolonged  disability,  resulting  from 
acute  sickness,  wounds  or  injuries,  or  on  account  of  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age  or  other  cause,  a  member  of  the  police  force  becomes 
disqualified  for  the  performance  of  duty,  the  Police  Surgeon 
should  make  a  full  report  thereon  to  the  Mayor  and  Police  Com- 
mittee. Whenever  an  officer,  absent  by  reason  of  sickness  or 
disability,  who  is  reported  by  the  Police  Surgeon  as  able  to  per- 
form his  duty  in  full  or  in  part,  and  is  thereupon  directed  to 
return  to  duty  by  the  Captain  of  his  district,  neglects  or  refuses 
to  obey  such  order,  his  pay  stops  from  the  delivery  of  such  order, 
and  he  is  liable  to  such  other  penalty  as  may  be  imposed  under 
the  rules  of  the  Board. 


160  OUR   POLICE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CHIEF  OF  POLICE  CHILD. — AN  HONORABLE  RECORD  OP  ARMY 
SERVICE. — WOUNDED  IN  PICKETT'S  CHARGE  AT  GETTYSBURG. 
— TERRIBLE  SCENES  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  DRAFT  RIOTS. — PRO- 
MOTED FOR  BRAVERY  IN  THE  ARMY. — APPOINTMENT  ON  THE 
POLICE  FORCE. — THE  CHIEF'S  RECOMMENDATIONS. — A  WARN- 
ING TO  PARENTS.  —  CHIEF  STEWART. —  EX-SUPERINTENDENT 
WALLING. — MARSHAL   FREY. 

Chief  Benjamin  H.  Child  is  still  a  comparatively  young 
man,  having  been  born  in  Providence,  in  1842.  His  early  youth 
he  gave  to  the  service  of  his  country.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
enlisted,  June  6,  18G1,  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war,  as  a 
private  in  the  Second  Rhode  Island  Battery,  afterward  Battery 
A,  First  Rhode  Island  Light  Artillery.  It  was  a  real  June  day 
when  the  young  Rhode  Islanders  embarked  on  the  Kill  von  Kull, 
at  India  Point,  amid  the  pealing  of  cannon,  and  the  farewell 
cheers  of  the  multitude.  A  month  later  they  were  in  the  battle 
of  Manassas  Plains,  commonly  known  as  "  Bull  Run."  The 
battery  nobly  vindicated  the  good  name  of  the  State  on  that  dis- 
astrous field,  with  the  Second  Rhode  Island  regiment  holding 
the  enemy  at  bay  until  other  troops  were  brought  into  action. 
"  Our  battery,"  says  Theodore  Reichardt,  in  his  diary,  "  was  the 
only  six-gun  volunteer  battery  carrying  all  the  guns  off  the  bat- 
tlefield, two  of  them  in  a  disabled  condition."  In  this  battle  Mr. 
Child  was  slightly  wounded.  Battery  A  was  connected  with  the 
Second  Army  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  was  engaged  in 
every  battle  with  the  corps,  including  the  Peninsular  Campaign, 
under  General  McClellan.  At  Antietam  Mr.  Child,  now  a  cor- 
poral, was  again  wounded,  this  time  severely. 

At  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  Mr.  Child,  now  promoted  to 
a  well-earned  sergeantcy,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  shoulder 
in  resisting  Pickett's  terrible  charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge.     He 


OUR   POLICE.  161 

was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Philadelphia.  When  sufficiently  re- 
covered to  be  removed,  he  started  for  Rhode  Island.  While  on 
his  way  home  he  passed  through  New  York  at  the  time  of  the 
draft  riots.  Mr.  Child  witnessed  the  fearful  scenes  in  the  streets 
from  the  carriage  in  which  he  was  conveyed  through  the  city  to 
the  Fall  River  steamer,  Plymouth  Rock.  It  appeared  as  if  the 
raging  rabble  might  be  tempted  to  attack  the  wounded  Union  sol- 
dier, and  Mr.  Child  made  the  remark  that  it  would  be  *'  rather 
humiliating  to  be  slaughtered  by  a  mob  after  passing  through  the 
charge  of  Gettysburg."  The  military  and  police,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  rioters  on  the  other,  were  engaged  in  terrible  conflict 
for  the  control  of  the  city.  Colored  men  were  chased  as  if  they 
were  wild  beasts,  and,  when  captured,  hanged,  burned  and 
their  bodies  cruelly  mutilated.  The  police  fought  heroically,  but 
against  overwhelming  numbers  their  efforts  were  at  first  in  vain. 
Club  in  hand,  they  ploughed  their  way  through  the  waving 
throng,  like  a  steamer  in  the  rushing  tide  of  a  mighty  river ;  but 
for  every  rioter  that  fell  a  dozen  sprang  to  take  the  place  of  the 
fallen,  until  exhausted  humanity  could  no  longer  bear  the  strain 
of  the  ceaseless  and  fearful  struggle.  With  iron  bars,  guns,  clubs 
and  any  and  everything  that  might  be  used  for  a  weapon,  the 
maddened  multitude,  infuriated  by  the  taste  of  blood,  and  stimu- 
lated by  the  evident  faltering  of  the  city's  defenders,  threw  them- 
selves on  the  blue-coats.  The  brave  little  band  came  to  a  standstill, 
and  strove,  for  a  moment,  to  stay  the  irresistible  onset.  As  well 
might  a  Roman  legion  have  opposed  its  bucklers  to  the  countless 
hordes  of  Attila;  as  vainly  did  Custer's  fated  company  make 
their  final  stand  against  the  desperate  followers  of  Sitting  Bull. 
Scattered  and  broken,  at  last,  the  policemen  sought  safety,  each 
one  pursued  by  a  score  or  more  of  the  rioters,  hot  for  his  life- 
blood.  For  a  time  the  mob  was  triumphant,  and  the  chief  city 
of  the  Union  prostrate  to  an  enemy  more  merciless,  but  fortu- 
nately also  less  organized  than  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

The  driver  of  the  carriage  in  which  Mr.  Child  was  conveyed 
kept  as  far  as  possible  from  the  centre  of  disturbance  ;  but  more 
than  once  the  Rhode  Island  soldier  had  reason  to  apprehend  that 
the  senseless  violence  of  the  rioters  mi^ht  seek  him  for  a  victim. 


162  OUR   POLICE. 

Their  wild,  unkempt  aspect,  their  threatening  looks,  and  rude  but 
formidable  weapons,  might  well  have  stricken  fear  into  the  heart 
even  of  a  man  not  disabled  by  wounds :  but  the  mob  was  too 
busy  in  the  active  pursuit  of  the  immediate  objects  of  its  ven- 
geance to  turn  its  rage  against  the  passing  traveller.  Near 
Thirty-second  street  Mr.  Child  noticed  in  the  distance  a  ghastly 
object  swinging  from  a  tree.  Around  it  howled  the  mob,  their 
cries  and  execrations  audible  for  many  blocks.  It  was  a  poor 
negro,  who,  hunted  down  until  he  could  no  longer  run,  had  been 
dragged  to  the  tree,  and  swung  up  to  its  branches  by  beings  in 
the  form  of  humanity.  It  was  but  one  of  many  similar  scenes, 
which  gave  shuddering  evidence  of  what  a  great  city  could  be, 
with  its  worst  elements  sweeping  everything  before  them. 

At  the  pier  the  Plymouth  Rock  was  found,  prepared  with  hot 
water  and  more  effective  weapons  to  give  the  howling  multitude  a 
warm  reception  in  the  event  of  an  attack ;  but,  while  the  Wee- 
hawken  ferry-house  was  burned,  and  demonstrations  made  against 
the  shipping  in  other  quarters,  the  rioters  did  not  assault  the 
steamer.  Mr.  Child,  however,  was  hurried,  on  board  in  such 
haste,  and  in  such  rude  fashion,  that  his  wound,  but  imperfectly 
healed,  had  to  be  opened  again,  and  the  result  is  that  he  is 
troubled  with  a  stiff  shoulder. 

War  Governor  James  Y.  Smith  commissioned  Mr.  Child  as 
Second  Lieutenant  of  Battery  A,  Captain  William  A.  Arnold, 
November  6,  1863,  in  recognition  of  his  services  in  the  field. 
Lieutenant  Child,  owing  to  his  wound,  was  unable  to  report  for 
duty  until  Christmas,  and  he  was  transferred  from  Battery  A  to 
Battery  H,  the  latter  being  in  the  defences  of  Washington.  The 
young  Lieutenant  had  to  go  to  Brandy  Station,  where  Battery  A 
was  at  the  front,  to  be  mustered  out,  and  receive  his  commission. 
The  mustering  officer  at  General  Sumner's  headquarters  had 
hardly  signed  the  papers  when  a  shell  burst  through  the  tent, 
and  the  officer  was  seriously  wounded.  Lieutenant  Child  rode 
back  to  Washington  and  reported  for  duty  to  Battery  H,  then 
lying  at  Camp  Barry.  In  November,  1864,  Mr.  Child  was 
mustered  out  at  City  Point,  on  account  of  disability  caused  by 
wounds,  with  the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant.     For  about  eighteen 


BENJAMIN  H.  CHILD, 
Chief  of  Police. 


OUR   POLICE.  165 

months  Mr.  Child  was  employed  in  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment at  Washington.  Then  he  returned  to  the  city  which  he 
had  left  about  five  years  before,  in  the  bloom  and  vigor  of  early 
youth,  now  shattered  in  body,  but  resolute  as  ever  in  mind  and  in 
purpose. 

After  being  employed  with  Greenleaf  &  Co.,  on  Westminster 
street,  for  about  two  years,  Mr.  Child  was  appointed  on  the  police 
force.  May  1,  1868.  Had  the  physical  examination  then  been 
as  strict  as  to-day,  he  could  not  have  been  accepted,  owing  to  the 
injuries  he  had  received  in  the  service  of  his  country ;  but  fortu- 
nately for  the  force  and  the  city,  as  well  as  Mr.  Child,  it  was 
otherwise.  Mr.  Child  was  appointed  doorman  by  Mayor  Doyle, 
June  4,  1874,  at  Station  1,  and  was  promoted  to  be  Sergeant, 
August  16,  1877,  and  detailed  to  Station  4.  He  was  made  Cap- 
tain of  the  Fifth  Station,  August  8,  1879,  and  elected  Chief  of 
Police  January  5,  1881.  From  that  time  to  the  present.  Chief 
Child  has  been  re-elected  annually,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Council. 

Chief  Child  has  held  office  in  a  period  of  peculiar  difficulty, 
and  that  he  has  discharged  his  duties  satisfactorily,  his  repeated 
re-elections  are  the  potent  evidence.  He  is  not  a  man  of  aggres- 
sion, but,  as  one  of  his  subordinates  remarked :  "Anyone  who 
counts  on  Chief  Child  not  having  backbone  makes  a  mistake." 
He  accomplishes  in  his  own  quiet,  resolute,  effective  way,  much 
more  than  some  men  with  bluster,  noise  and  braggadocio.  He  is 
of  a  humane  temperament,  and  is  ever  inclined  to  lean  to  the 
side  of  mercy.  He  never  crushes  the  helpless  simply  because 
they  can  be  crushed  with  impunity,  and  if  a  word  of  warning 
will  be  likely  to  effect  reform,  that  word  is  kindly  given.  In  the 
enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  the  Chief  has  displayed  a  rare 
and  careful  discretion.  On  the  one  hand,  he  has  avoided  plung- 
ing the  city  into  futile  and  expensive  litigation ;  on  the  other, 
he  has  not  permitted  or  tolerated  any  open  defiance  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws.  He  has  always  been  ready  to  prosecute, 
when  sustained  by  the  requisite  evidence,  but  he  has  remembered 
that  there  are  other  crimes  besides  the  unlawful  sale  of  liquor, 
against  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  police  to  protect  the  community. 


166  OUR   POLICE. 

The  administration  of  Chief  Child  has  not  been  distinguished 
by  any  riots,  and  by  but  few  notorious  crimes.  The  nearest  ap- 
proach to  a  riot  was  during  the  excitement  of  the  Presidential 
election  of  1884,  and  then  the  police  were  promptly  prepared  for 
an  emergency.  But  the  crisis  passed,  in  the  city  as  in  the  nation, 
with  only  added  proof  of  the  ability  of  a  free  and  educated  peo- 
ple to  control  their  passions,  and  command  their  destinies. 

The  eloquent  evidence  of  Chief  Child's  efficiency  is  in  the 
security  of  life  and  property  in  Providence.  For  this  the  credit 
belongs  to  the  whole  police  Force,  but  of  that  force  the  Chief  is 
the  director  and  the  head.  Without  the  arbitrary  and  high- 
handed methods  of  certain  other  cities,  the  lawless  element  is 
kept  in  subjection,  and  the  streets  of  Providence  are  secure  alike 
from  ruffian  violence,  and  the  craft  of  the  skillful  criminal. 

What  has  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  police  work  during 
Chief  Child's  administration  can  perhaps  best  be  told  from  the 
official  reports.  In  1881,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Chief, 
several  officers,  whose  physical  condition  required  relief  from 
active  service,  were  placed,  instead  of  being  retired  or  discharged, 
on  light  duty  as  housemen  at  certain  station  houses.  The  officers 
in  question  were  Theodore  Rutherford,  Benjamin  A.  Newhall, 
Augustus  R.  Tallman,  Isaac  A.  Austin,  William  J.  Booth,  and 
Joseph  W.  Pratt.  Chief  Child  earnestly  recommended  an  in- 
crease of  the  force,  and  the  result  was  the  addition  of  ten  men, 
who,  however,  hardly  more  than  supplied  the  place  of  the  officers 
withdrawn  from  patrol  duty.  This  report  also  contained  valu- 
able suggestions  as  to  needed  amendment  of  ordinances.  Speak- 
ing of  the  1,117  arrests  of  minors  made  during  the  year,  the 
Chief  made  these  wholesome  comments  : 

"  In  this  large  number  of  recruits  to  the  jails  and  prisons  of  our 
country  are  the  children  of  many  worthy  and  respected  parents, 
whose  heads  are  bowed  with  shame,  as  they  realize  the  ruin  and 
degradation  of  their  offspring.  It  certainly  appears  strange  to 
the  inexperienced  mind  that  so  many  children,  reared  within  the 
influence  of  pleasant  homes,  can  thus  early  in  life  forget  their 
youthful  teachings,  and  bury  in  the  oblivion  that  crime  entails 
many  of  the  possibilities  of  a  useful  and  happy  future.     Regard- 


GEOKGE  W.  WALLING, 
■'*k-Superintendent  of  the  New  York  Police. 


*•*  •  •«  •  !••  • 


I 


OUR   POLICE.  169 

ing  this  matter  from  an  official  standpoint,  my  observations  have 
frequently  suggested  the  thought  that,  in  such  cases,  much  of 
the  difficulty  lies  in  the  undue  confidence  that  parents  and  guar- 
dians repose  in  the  security  of  their  children  from  evil  influences, 
and  in  their  consequent  ability  to  withstand  temptation. 

"  "When  I  am  informed  of  the  presence  of  boys  in  public  billi- 
ard rooms,  concert  saloons,  and  in  other  resorts  which  are  per- 
haps not  so  objectionable,  but  where  a  youth  unattended  can 
learn  much  that  will  prepare  him  to  go  outside  the  pale  of  home 
influence,  I  am  led  to  think  of  the  numerous  dangers  that  will 
beset  them,  and  almost  wonder  at  the  carelessness  of  those  who 
should  be  their  guides  and  protectors  at  this  critical  period  of 
life.  When  I  observe  young  girls  crowding,  evening  after  eve- 
ning, through  the  almost  impassable  streets,  unattended  by  older 
persons,  impelled  doubtless  by  the  spirit  of  innocent  sport,  but 
with  strange  ignorance  of  the  devious  ways  of  life,  there  forming 
acquaintances  with  strangers  of  both  sexes,  as  giddy  and  thought- 
less as  themselves,  I  remember  that  this  is  one  of  the  pathways 
that  have  led  many  to  a  shameless  life  and  dishonored  grave,  and 
sincerely  wish  that  unconscious  parents  would  realize  the  attend- 
ant dangers,  and  throw  some  restraint  around  their  young  lives 
before  it  is  too  late. 

"  I  throw  out  the  above  suggestions  in  a  general  sense,  being 
well  aware  that  there  are  many  young  persons  who  have  virtue 
almost  thrust  upon  them,  like  a  garment,  and  yet  who  neglect  its 
influence ;  but  I  would  impress  upon  the  mind  of  every  father 
and  mother  the  thought  I  have  expressed  in  regard  to  the  watch- 
fulness of  parents  and  guardians  over  their  children,  well  knowing 
by  observation  how  important  a  factor  such  an  influence  may 
become  in  the  sum  total  of  a  usefiil  and  well-ordered  life. 

"  There  is  another,  and  a  far  more  numerous  class  than  that  I 
have  named  as  appearing  in  this  record,  who  have  never  had  the 
benefit  of  correct  example — neglected  children  of  vicious  parents, 
who  have  never  known  the  benign  influence  of  pleasant  homes, 
whose  horizon  is  circumscribed  by  ignorance  and  moral  darkness, 
and  who  only  walk  where  the  stern  necessities  of  life  mark  out 
their  pathway.     Exposed  to  the  elements  without  proper  clothing, 


170  OUR    POLICE. 

abused,  illy  fed  and  illy  housed,  it  is  no  wonder  that  such  a  one 
has  blear  eyes  and  unprepossessing  features ;  besides  the  sins  of 
generations  before  him  have  left  their  impress  upon  his  brow. 
Should  he  apply  for  work,  he  would  meet  with  a  rebuff,  for  the 
mechanic  and  the  merchant  will  prefer  a  boy  who  is  more  fortu- 
nate in  parentage,  in  social  connections,  and  in  personal  appear- 
ance. He  realizes  that  they  do  not  want  him,  and  looks  upon 
society  as  his  enemy.  Born  with  a  tendency  to  evil  and  a  vicious 
life,  how  easy  it  is  for  him  to  drift  into  the  current,  and  become 
confirmed  in  his  evil  ways.  Thus  a  large  class  of  the  young  are 
cast  adrift  upon  the  world,  and  with  minds  sharpened  by  constant 
contact  with  the  rough  sides  of  life,  thereby  developing  a  shrewd 
cunning  far  beyond  their  years,  they  become  sneak-thieves  and 
disturbers  of  the  peace,  veritable  heathen  amid  all  the  advanta- 
ges that  our  free  institutions  can  give.  I  think  the  State  has  a 
duty  to  perform  to  such  neglected  ones,  which  commences  before 
they  become  amenable  to  the  law,  and  should  by  compulsory 
education  and  suitable  restraints  control  their  early  life,  in  order 
that  they  may  become  good  citizens,  and  productive  members  of 
the  community  in  which  they  live. 

"  If  a  suitable  House  of  Industry  was  established,  where  such 
waifs  could  be  cared  for,  and  some  form  of  a  truant  law  enacted 
and  carried  into  effect,  that  would  take  the  idle  boys  from  the 
streets,  many  annoyances  would  be  prevented,  and  the  number  of 
those  whose  names  appear  on  the  criminal  record  would  diminish 
in  a  remarkable  degree." 

This  excellent  recommendation  did  not  pass  unheeded  by  the 
law-making  body,  and  the  enactment  of  the  present  efficient 
truant  law  was  undoubtedly  aided  and  forwarded  by  the  timely 
admonition  of  Chief  Child. 

Of  all  forms  of  swindling  none  is  more  cruel  and  more  con- 
temptible than  that  which  robs  the  seeker  for  employment  under 
a  fraudulent  pretext  of  obtaining  for  him  a  situation  which  the 
swindler,  having  once  obtained  the  victim's  money,  takes  no  steps 
to  provide.  This  evil  had  been  especially  flagrant  in  Providence, 
and  as  the  victims  were  usually  strangers,  many  of  them  not  even 
talking   the  English   language,  and   therefore  unable  to  make 


OUR   POLICE.  171 

their  wrongs  known  intelligently,  or  to  sustain  their  complaints, 
if  they  did  complain,  with  legal  evidence,  the  petty  knaves  who 
preyed  upon  them  pursued  their  traffic  with  comparative  im- 
punity. Chief  Child  saw  the  evil,  and  pointed  out  the  remedy. 
He  advised  that  a  law  be  passed  regulating  the  business,  and 
affixing  a  penalty  for  the  opening  ot  an  intelligence  office  without 
first  obtaining  permission  from  the  authorities.  The  recom- 
mendation was  adopted,  and  the  poor  are  no  longer  made  poorer 
by  being  defrauded  through  false  and  delusive  promises  of  em- 
ployment. 

Through  the  urgent  recommendation  and  efforts  of  the  Chief, 
also,  but  not  without  considerable  opposition  from  interested 
parties,  a  stringent  law  was  enacted,  placing  the  business  of 
pawnbrokers  thoroughly  within  police  supervision,  and  rendering 
it  more  difficult  for  those  establishments  to  be  used  as  receptacles 
for  stolen  goods. 

The  Chief  has  always  been  opposed  to  the  degradation  of  the 
police  force  by  the  use  of  its  members  to  procure  evidence,  as 
"  spotters,"  of  the  illegal  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Of  this 
subject  he  said,  in  1884  :  "  Such  a  course  interferes  greatly  in 
the  proper  discipline  of  the  force.  1  am  conversant  with  cases 
where  officers  have  been  subjected  to  punishment  for  the  use  of 
liquor,  when  I  feel  positive  the  appetite  was  induced  by  procuring 
testimony  in  liquor  cases.  It  is  always  necessary  that  we  should 
use  new  officers  in  order  to  meet  with  any  success  in  getting  sales, 
and  it  certainly  seems  wrong  that  an  initiate  should  be  ordered 
to  perform  a  duty  of  this  character,  when  it  may  become  the 
incentive  to  an  appetite  that  will  remain  life-long,  or  fan  into  a 
flame  the  fires  of  an  inclination  that  have  required  all  his  pre- 
vious strength  of  character  to  bring  into  subjugation." 

In  January,  1886,  Chief  Child  called  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
during  the  twenty -two  years  since  the  organization  of  the  depart- 
ment, a  number  of  men  who  became  members  at  that  time,  in  the 
full  strength  and  powers  of  their  manhood,  through  old  age,  after 
a  faithful  service,  had  become  partly,  or  wholly,  incapacitated  from 
performing  the  duties  required  by  the  police  regulations.  "  I  do 
not  think,"  wrote  the  Chief  to  the  Honorable  Board  of  Alder- 


172  ,  ,      OUR   POLICE. 

men,  "  that  it  is  the  wish  of  the  city  government  that  they  be 
cast  aside  and  left  to  penury  and  want.  I  have  canvassed  the 
matter  thoughtfully,  and  present  the  following  recommendations 
for  your  consideration  :  First,  That  an  ordinance  be  passed  for 
the  purpose  of  placing  veteran  police  officers,  who  have  served 
continuously  for  at  least  twenty  years,  on  the  retired  list  at  an 
allowance  of  a  sufficient  sum  for  their  comfortable  support. 
Second,  That  the  fines  hereafter  imposed  upon  members  of  this 
department  for  dereliction  of  duty  be  reserved  by  the  city  to 
form  the  nucleus  of  a  fund  to  be  created  for  the  benefit  of  old 
and  infirm  officers.  A  small  monthly  tax  upon  the  members  of 
this  department  might  be  added.  Other  sources  of  income  would 
suggest  themselves,  from  time  to  time,  as  they  may  be  required. 
The  patrolman  is  supposed  to  be  the  alert  watchman  in  the  hours 
of  duty,  and  constantly  mindful  wherein  lies  the  greatest  danger 
to  life  and  property — and  in  the  hour  of  need  to  be  found  there — 
the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  For  the  police  officer  on  such 
occasions  to  be  tardy  by  reason  of  his  infirmity  of  age,  or  to 
prove  inefficient  by  reason  of  decrepitude,  may  find  an  excuse  in 
public  sympathy,  but  will  not  escape  public  and  just  criticisms. 
To  keep,  therefore,  these  disabled  officers  on  patrol  duty  is  neither 
creditable  to  the  humaiyty  nor  to  the  efficiency  of  the  department ; 
for,  by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  his  office,  a  policeman  at  any 
moment  may  be  called  to  exercise  the  best  physical  and  mental 
energy.  The  veteran  officers  should,  therefore,  be  relieved  of  all 
duty,  but  not  of  pay.  Then  will  the  annual  sickness  decrease, 
the  department  be  less  exposed  to  the  criticisms  of  incompetency, 
and  the  active  officers  be  encouraged  by  the  better  outlook." 

The  Chief's  recommendation  was  in  so  far  adopted  that  several 
worthy  and  aged  members  of  the  force  are  carried  along  with 
pay  instead  of  being  turned  out  upon  the  mercy  of  the  world  by 
the  city  they  have  faithfully  served. 

Chief  Child  has  visited  other  departments  with  the  view  of 
improving  his  ability  to  direct  the  police  of  Providence.  In 
Philadelphia  he  met  General  James  Stewart,  Jr.,  the  then 
executive  head  of  the  Philadelphia  Police  Department.  Ac- 
counted during  the  late  war  one  of  the  best  disciplinarians  in  the 


OUR    POLICE.  173 

service,  his  ripe  experience  in  that  life  came  in  aptly  at  the  time 
of  his  appointment.  He  found  the  force  in  a  disorganized  con- 
dition, and  it  needed  just  such  a  consummate  organizer  and 
disciplinarian  as  General  Stewart  to  place  it  on  the  footing  of  a 
model  constabulary,  a  work  which  he  has  accomplished  in  an 
eminent  degree.  •  In  New  York  Chief  Child  met  the  veteran 
superintendent,  George  W.  Walling,  whose  forty  years  of  honor- 
able connection  with  the  New  York  Police  have  made  his  name 
familiar  throughout  the  country,  and  who,  whether  serving  a 
warrant  on  Mayor  Fernando  Wood,  or  battling  the  mob  in  the 
draft  riots,  never  shrank  from  the  summons  of  duty.  The  Chief 
was  well  received  in  Baltimore  by  Marshal  Jacob  Frey,  under 
whose  administration  the  Baltimore  Police  has  risen  to  be  a  model 
department,  not  only  in  the  physique  and  discipline  of  its  mem- 
bers, but  in  every  equipment  which  ingenuity  has  suggested, 
and  experience  has  demonstrated  to  be  useful  in  aiding  the  police 
to  perform  their  duties  as  the  enforcers  of  law  and  the  protectors 
of  life  and  property. 


17  i  OUR  POLICE. 


OH  AFTER    X. 

DEPUTY  CHIEF  JOHN  T.  BROWN. — HIS  EARLY  CAREER  IN  THE 
WAR  AND  CIVIL  LIFE. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  FORCE. — CAPTAIN 
OF  THE  SECOND  STATION. — PROMOTED  TO  DEPUTY  CHIEF. — 
DECLINES  ELECTION  AS  CHIEF. — HIS  VARIOUS  DUTIES. — THE 
FORCE  NOW  AND  WHEN  HE  BECAME  A  MEMBER. — THE  LAW 
TOO  LENIENT  FOR  HABITUAL  CRIMINALS. — CAPTAIN  WINSHIP. 
— HOW  HE  SAVED  AN  OLD  MAN'S  LIFE. — LETTERS  OF  THE 
LATE   MAYOR   DOYLE. 

Deputy  Chief  John  T.  Brown  is  45  years  of  age,  and  was 
born  in  Johnston,  Rhode  Island.     He  comes  of  sturdy  Rhode 
Island  agricultural  stock,  being  the  son  of  Harris  Olney  Brown,  a 
highly  respected  farmer.     Mr.  Brown  came  to  this  city  at  an 
early  age.     He  served  the  country,  during  the  war,  as  quarter- 
master on  the  transports  Guide  and  Illinois.     Returning  home 
with  an  honorable  discharge,  it  was  his  intention,  after  a  brief 
rest,  to  go  back  to  the  national  service ;  but  Mayor  Doyle,  who 
knew  a  good  man  when  he  saw  one,  and  was  on  the  alert  for 
first-class  recruits,  offered  the  place  of  patrolman  to  Mr.  Brown. 
The  latter  accepted,  being  appointed  to  the  force  October  31, 
1864.     For  several  months  the  duties  of  the  new  police  did  not 
differ  much  from  those  of  the  old  watch,  for  the  change  had  to 
be  made  gradually,  and  Mr.  Brown  patrolled  in  citizens'  clothing, 
very  much  like  the  watchmen  of  the  later  period.     He  was  the 
first  to  put  on  the  new  uniform,  and  will  never  forget  the  number 
of  times  he  had  to  stop  and  explain  to  curious  and  interested 
citizens.     That  Mr.  Brown  performed  his  duties  faithfully  as 
patrolman  is  shown  by  the  fact  of  his  promotion,  January  7, 
1875,  to  the  office  of  Sergeant  of  the  Fifth  Station,  Mr.  Brown's 
being  one  of  the  appointments  made  under  the  ordinance  of 
January  4,  of  that  year,  authorizing  the  Mayor  to  appoint  a 
Deputy  Chief  of  Police,  seven  Captains  and  seven  Sergeants, 


OUR   POLICE.  175 

instead  of  one  Captain  and  five  Sergeants,  as  allowed  by  the  old 
ordinance.  The  Sergeants  then  performed  duties  similar  to  those 
of  Lieutenants  at  the  present  time,  and  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Brown 
the  duties  were  especially  exacting,  owing  to  the  age  of  the  ven- 
erable Captain,  James  W.  Sanders,  now  a  retired  member  of  the 
force.  The  Captain  was  vigorous  for  his  years,  but  his  Sergeant 
had  the  manhood  and  delicacy  to  relieve  the  veteran,  as  far  aa 
possible,  from  the  arduous  details  of  work. 

The  Fifth  Precinct,  as  our  citizens  well  know,  is  not  only  an 
important  residential  quarter,  but  the  centre  of  active  and  thriv- 
ing industries,  in  which  many  millions  of  capital  are  invested. 
Under  Captain  Sanders  and  Sergeant  Brown  the  patrol  was 
thoroughly  efficient,  life  and  property  were  protected,  and  crime 
was  as  rare  as  it  was  promptly  detected.  In  July,  1876,  Mr. 
Brown  was  appointed  Captain  of  the  Second  Station,  a  broad 
and  difficult  district  to  control.  During  the  year  of  his  Cap- 
taincy the  rough  characters  of  the  North  End  learned  that  they 
had  an  officer  to  deal  with  who  was  determined  that  the  law 
should  be  obeyed,  and  localities  in  which  ruffianism  had  reigned 
assumed  an  aspect  of  comparative  order.  Randall  Square  became 
safe  for  respectable  travellers  after  dark,  and  the  denizens  of  the 
"  Hollow  "  found  that  a  restraint  was  placed  on  their  orgies. 

September  14,  1877,  Mr.  Brown  was  appointed  Deputy  Chief, 
to  take  the  place  of  William  H.  Ayer,  promoted  by  the  City 
Council  to  the  command  of  the  force.  Mr.  Brown  has  been 
Deputy  from  that  date  to  the  present  time,  declining,  after  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Hunt,  to  accept  an  election  as  Chief. 

The  duties  of  the  Deputy  Chief,  as  defined  by  ordinance,  are 
to  assist  the  Chief,  when  the  latter  is  present,  and  to  take  his 
place  when  absent.  The  duties  of  the  Chief  are  so  weighty  and 
diverse  that  more  assistance  than  can  be  rendered  by  a  clerk  is 
absolutely  required.  The  force  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  occupy 
his  entire  attention ;  and,  in  other  large  cities,  a  Superintendent 
of  Police  is  required  and  expected  only  to  superintend  the  police. 
But  in  Providence,  as  already  stated,  the  Chief  is  also  the  public 
prosecutor,  and  much  of  his  time  is  taken  up  in  preparing  and 
prosecuting  cases.     He  often  is  called  away  for  hours  at  a  time 


176  OUR   POLICE. 

to  be  present  at  the  hearing  of  some  cause  in  the  lower  or  in  the 
upper  courts,  and,  but  for  the  deputy,  the  police  force,  at  such 
times,  would  be  virtually  without  a  head ;  without  an  officer  au- 
thorized to  act  authoritatively  in  emergencies,  and  to  give  special 
commands  to  any  section  of  the  force,  in  any  and  every  precinct. 
The  Deputy  Chief,  therefore,  finds  plenty  to  do.  He  receives 
the  morning  reports,  and  assigns  the  detectives  to  their  several 
details  for  the  day,  giving  any  matter  that  requires  special  atten- 
tion to  the  officer  he  deems  best  fitted  for  the  task.  He  also 
exercises  a  general  supervision  over  the  force,  reporting  any  sus- 
pension, as  soon  as  may  be,  to  the  Chief,  and  he  sometimes 
represents  the  Chief  in  missions  beyond  the  State.  The  Deputy 
Chief  also  acts  as  a  merchant,  in  behalf  of  the  city,  in  the  pur- 
chase of  cloth  and  other  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  Department. 
In  order  that  the  cloth  may  be  of  uniform  color  and  texture,  it 
is  necessary  that  the  purchases  should  be  made  in  a  uniform 
manner ;  otherwise  the  police  might  be  clad  in  all  the  tints  of 
the  rainbow.  The  officers  have  the  goods  at  manufacturers* 
prices,  and  really  at  much  lower  prices  than  the  same  goods  are 
sold  for  at  wholesale  in  the  city.  This  was  signally  illustrated  on 
one  occasion  when  the  Deputy  Chief  found  himself  unable  to  get 
all  the  goods  he  needed  at  the  usual  place  of  purchase.  Learn- 
ing that  a  large  jobbing  house  in  this  city  had  a  case  of  the  cloth 
he  desired,  he  asked  the  price,  and  found  it  to  be  just  forty  cents 
a  yard  higher  than  he  had  been  buying  the  same  goods  for,  and 
charging  the  officers.  The  firm  stated,  in  reply  to  his  inquiries, 
that  they  themselves  had  paid  for  the  case  just  the  figure  which 
the  Deputy  proposed  to  buy  and  sell  at,  and  wanted  forty  cents 
profit  in  addition. 

The  Deputy  Chief  also  procures  the  chevrons,  civil  service 
stripes,  clubs,  etc.  When  first  organized  the  night  patrolmen 
carried  long  twenty-two  inch  clubs,  and  the  day  force  carried 
"  spring  billies,"  or  short  clubs.  An  old  night  watchman  known 
as  "  Uncle  John  Worden,"  used  to  made  the  "  spring  billies," 
which  were  kept  handy  in  the  hind  pocket.  When  Mr.  Brown 
became  Deputy  Chief  he  was  sent  to  Boston  to  consult  the  Police 
Department  there  as  to  a  convenient  style  of  club,  and  the  result 


JOHN  T.  BKOWN, 
Deputy-Chief  of  Police. 


e    c     J    ,    ej    *      e 


OUR   POLICE.  179 

was  the  adoption  of  the  present  weapon,  of  cocoa-bola  wood,  with 
a  swivel  head,  tough  as  any  wood  that  grows,  convenient  in  size, 
and  becoming  in  appearance.  For  dress  parade  a  long  rosewood 
club  is  worn,  but  only  on  formal  occasions,  and  in  case  of  real 
necessity  the  showy  and  fragile  rosewood  would  give  way  at  once 
to  a  reserve  of  the  toughest  hickory.  Upon  Chief  Brown  also 
devolves  the  task  of  arranging  the  beats  for  members  of  the  force, 
according  to  their  numbers,  and  in  such  a  way  that  no  part  of 
the  city  shall  be  neglected.  From  maps  prepared  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  members  of  the  force,  at  their  several  stations,  are 
expected  to  thoroughly  acquaint  themselves  with  the  situation  of 
the  fire  alarm  boxes,  and  the  bounds  of  their  respective  districts. 

Still  in  vigorous  manhood,  although  he  has  spent  close  to  a 
quarter  of  a  century  on  the  police  force.  Deputy  Chief  Brown  is 
eminently  qualified  for  his  important  position.  He  understands 
the  police,  the  city,  and  the  city's  criminals,  and,  like  the  Chief, 
he  believes  in  a  firm,  but  not  a  tyrannical  administration  of  law. 
Both  Chief  and  Deputy  are,  in  fact,  eminently  representative  of 
the  true  Rhode  Island  principle,  to  be  lenient  with  the  erring, 
but  severe  toward  the  deliberate  and  dangerous  criminal. 

Deputy  Chief  Brown  thoroughly  understands  every  detail  of 
the  Police  Department,  and  his  suggestions,  based  on  intelligent 
observations  and  practical  experience,  are  always  highly  valued. 
"  When  I  think  of  the  police  force,  as  it  was  when  I  first  became 
a  member,"  said  the  Deputy,  "and  compare  it  with  the  force  of 
to-day,  I  think  the  citizens  of  Providence  have  every  reason  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  change.  It  is  true  that  some  larger  cities  have 
improvements  with  which  we  are  not  as  yet  provided,  but  no  city 
of  the  size  of  Providence  can  show  a  body  of  men  that  will  com- 
pare with  ours.  Not  only  the  physique,  but  also  the  moral  tone 
of  the  force  is  satisfactory,  and  the  rigid  rules  are  very  certain  to 
prevent  any  decline  in  the  existing  standard.  In  the  earlier  years 
of  the  force  we  did  not  have  the  thorough  examination  required 
to-day ;  otherwise  many  worthy  men,  now  members,  would  have 
been  excluded.  But  now  that  we  have  a  first-class  body  of  men, 
it  is  but  right  that  the  standard  be  strictly  maintained." 

"While  I  believe  in  strict  discipline,"  added  the  Deputy,  "I 


180  OUR    POLICE. 

also  believe  in  stimulating  the  ambition  and  self-esteem  of  the 
police  officer  by  proper  recognition  of  meritorious  service.  The 
civil  service  stripes, — as  they  are  called — one  for  each  five  years 
of  service — are  in  the  right  direction.  The  officer  who  wears 
them  feels  that  the  city  recognizes  his  years  of  fidelity  and  devo- 
tion to  its  interest,  and  those  who  have  not  achieved  them  are 
stimulated  by  an  ambition  to  obtain  similar  distinctions.  The 
graduation  of  salaries  is  also  a  wise  system,  holding  out,  as  it 
does,  a  reward  for  persistence  in  good  conduct.  What  remains 
necessary  is  some  provision  by  the  city  for  the  disabled  and  super- 
annuated, and  I  have  no  doubt  that  such  provision  will  be  made 
at  no  distant  day." 

"  The  best  testimony,"  added  the  Deputy,  "  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  force,  is  the  comparative  immunity  of  Providence  from 
crimes  against  the  person  and  property.  Great  criminals,  like 
Brockway  and  Dunmunway,  seem  to  meet  their  fate  when  they 
strike  Providence,  and  professional  scoundrels  of  a  lesser  type 
have  long  ago  learned  to  avoid  our  city.  While  such  is  the  con- 
dition of  affairs,  our  citizens  ought  to  be,  and  I  believe  they  are, 
satisfied  with  the  police." 

The  Deputy  Chief  is  a  strong  advocate  of  a  more  effective 
method  of  dealing  with  habitual  criminals  than  now  provided  by 
the  statute  law.  He  thinks  that  there  ought  to  be  some  pro- 
vision, similar  to  the  common  thief  act  of  New  York,  which 
would  allow  the  deliberate  and  habitual  offender  to  be  shut  up, 
as  an  outlaw,  for  such  a  period  as  to  secure  society  against  his 
depredations  for  a  long  term  of  years,  even  if  reform  on  the  part 
of  the  criminal  were  hopeless.  "  I  believe,"  he  said,  *'that  first 
offenders,  especially  when  the  offence  is  not  long  planned  and 
deliberate,  should  be  dealt  with  leniently,  but  with  the  confirmed 
and  habitual  criminal  it  should  be  entirely  different.  Not  only 
should  the  penalty  be  exemplary,  but  when  released  they  should 
be  under  the  surveillance  of  the  police.  Against  the  habitually 
criminal  class  there  is  in  Rhode  Island  virtually  no  safeguard 
save  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities,  and,  although  outlaws  by 
choice  and  intent,  they  have  the  same  protection  and  legal  status 
as  the  law-abiding  member  of  that  society  upon  which  they  make 


AUGUSTUS  J.  WINSHIP, 
Captain  of  Police. 


/•*,  •  ;** *  <••  t  *  ''*  *    r  ,*• 


OUR   POLICE.  183 

war.  That  habitual  criminals  shun  Providence  is  due,  not  so 
much  to  the  efficiency  of  the  laws  providing  for  their  punishment, 
as  to  the  keen  and  sleepless  outlook  maintained  by  the  police." 

Captain  Augustus  J.  Winship  was  born  in  Providence  in  1836. 
He  has  been  detailed  for  special  service  so  long  a  time  that  many 
may  not  be  aware  that  he  is  a  member  of  the  police  force. 
Appointed  on  the  force  November  13,  1869,  Mr.  Winship  was 
put  on  night  patrol  from  the  Central  Station.  He  was  soon 
afterward  transferred  to  the  day  patrol,  and  assigned  to  the 
important  beat  on  Market  Square.  It  has  always  been  the  rule 
to  select  for  this  beat  men  of  especial  tact,  judgment  and  firmness, 
for  all  these  qualities  are  called  into  action  continually,  in  dealing 
with  the  throngs  which  centre  on  the  Great  Bridge,  that  ever- 
pulsating  heart  of  the  City  of  Providence.  The  officer  on  the 
bridge  ought  to  have  a  wide  circle  of  personal  acquaintance,  and 
be  promptly  able  to  discern  who,  among  the  multitude,  ever 
passing,  and  often  loitering,  are  such  as  ought  to  be  watched. 
It  is  often  necessary  for  him  to  ask  respectable  citizens,  women 
and  men,  to  move  out  of  the  way,  and  to  do  this  without  giving 
offence  is  more  than  many  men,  however  cautious  and  patient, 
are  capable  of  Mr.  Winship  did  it.  At  the  same  time  he  kept 
a  lynx-like  outlook  for  pickpockets  and  other  offenders  who  seek 
their  victims  where  people  most  do  congregate.  The  city 
included  at  the  time  a  large,  and  by  no  means  desirable,  floating 
population  of  laborers  at  work  on  street  excavations.  These  Mr. 
Winship  helped  to  keep  in  restraint,  doing  his  full  share  in  the 
preservation  of  the  public  peace. 

It  was  while  serving  on  the  Great  Bridge  that  Captain  Win- 
ship was  instrumental  in  saving  a  human  life  under  circumstances 
of  peculiar  peril  and  hardship.  Our  citizens  are  not  likely  to 
forget  the  Thanksgiving  Day  of  1871,  when  Pawtuxet  water  was 
first  introduced  in  Providence.  It  was  a  bitterly  cold  day ;  but 
the  celebration  was  carried  through  without  break  or  hindrance. 
Surrounded  by  the  Water  Commissioners  and  other  public  officials, 
his  Honor  Mayor  Doyle  opened  the  water-gate  for  the  first  time, 
to  let  the  water  through  into  the  centre  of  the  city.  A  stream 
rose,  three  inches  in  diameter  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 


184  OUR   POLICE. 

height.     Broken  into  silvery  spray  by  the  keen  north  wind,  the 
column  of  pure  water  presented  a  charming  and  dazzling  spec- 
tacle.    All  day  it  played  until  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon.    The  spray  froze  as  it  fell,  and  the  space  from  the  Great 
Bridge  to  the  water-gate  was  covered  several  inches  deep  with  an 
icy  coating.     A  clearly  defined  rainbow  spanned  the  cloud  of 
spray  from  "Washington  Row  to  Canal  street,  over-arching  with 
symbolic  radiance  the  flowing  fountain  sparkling  in  the  beautiful 
sunlight.     Meantime  locomotion  in  the  street  was  not  only  diffi- 
cult, but  almost  impracticable.     Soon  after  three  o'clock  an  old 
man  with  gray  hair,  named  Eben  Sherman,  of  Kingston,  being 
not  drunk,  but  a  little  unsteady  on  his  legs,  attempted  to  cross 
Washington  Bridge  from  Canal  street,  on  the  south  side,  to  go  to 
the  station  and  take  the  train  for  home.    He  got  along  well  until 
about  half  over,  when  the  spray  began  to  grow  deeper  and  motion 
more  difficult.     A  crowd  gathered  and  enjoyed  the  struggles  of 
the  old  man  to  make  headway,  supposing  his  gyrations  to  be 
merely  the  transient  misfortunes  of  a  drunkard,  and  not,  as  in 
fact,  the  actual  struggle  of  an  aged  man  for  very  life.     Two 
young  men,  more  thoughtful  than  the  rest,  who  went  to  the 
rescue,  were  driven  back  by  the  blinding  spray.     Still  the  old 
man  kept  on,  his  strength  fast  failing,  his  struggles  weaker,  and 
each  rest  on  the  ice  longer  than  the  one  before.     Finally,  when 
within  a  couple  of  rods  of  Washington   Row,  he  fell,  and,  with 
one  long,  loud  cry  for  help,  remained  there.     In  five  minutes  he 
would  have  been  completely  covered  up,  and  fifteen  minutes  would 
have  found  him  dead.     Officer  Winship,  busily  engaged  in  aiding 
passengers  on  the  Great  Bridge,  heard  the  cry.     He  hurried  to 
the  scene.     The  first  step  into  the  spray  carried  him  deeper  than 
his  rubber  boots,  nearly  took  his  breath  away,  threw  him  down, 
and  gave  him  an  idea  that  the  old  man  might  not  be  as  drunk  as 
the  crowd  thought  he  was.     The  officer  arose  and  bravely  pushed 
on,  hidden  from  view  at  times  by  the  floating  spray.     Twice  he 
went  down  before  he  reached  the  fallen  wanderer,  when  he  helped 
the  latter  up  and  both  went  down.     Then  the  crowd  began  to 
think  of  danger,  and  breathlessly  watched  the  intrepid  policeman 
and  the  helpless  old  man.  Another  person  started  from  Canal  street 


OUR   POLICE.  185 

to  assist  officer  Winship,  and  he,  too,  fell  several  times  before  he 
got  across,  which  he  did  some  time  after  the  officer  had  got  his 
man  on  firm  footing.  The  two  were  cased  in  ice  from  head  to 
foot,  and  Mr.  Sherman,  although  rescued,  seemed  nearer  dead 
than  alive.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  Central  Station  and  prompt 
measures  taken  to  revive  him.  These  were  successful,  and,  unlike 
some  men  who  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude,  he  hastened  to  offer  to 
discharge  it.  Taking  out  his  well-filled  pocket-book,  he  proffered 
one  hundred  dollars  to  officer  Winship,  which,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  was  refused.  Mr.  Winship  felt  sufficiently  rewarded  in  the 
consciousness  that  his  presence  of  mind  had  saved  a  fellow-being. 
Mr.  Winship,  after  a  period  of  excellent  service  on  the  Great 
Bridge,  was  transferred  to  a  position  of  grave  responsibility  as 
paymaster  of  the  officers  and  employes  of  the  city,  with  head- 
quarters at  the  old  City  Building.  In  that  position  he  has 
handled  many  millions  of  dollars  in  values  without  the  loss  of  one 
cent.  As  to  how  he  has  discharged  his  duties,  the  following  let- 
ters, signed  with  a  name  which  Providence  citizens  will  ever 
delight  to  honor,  bear  testimony. 

Mayor's  Office, 
Oity  of  Providence,  December  9,  1875. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  : — For  some  years 
past  Augustus  J.  Winship,  of  the  police  force,  has  been  detailed 
as  officer  at  the  city  building.  By  his  efficiency,  promptness, 
and  courtesy  in  the  performance  of  the  varied  duties  required  of 
him,  he  has  won  the  respect  of  the  municipal  officers  and  citizens. 

For  a  considerable  time  he  has  acted  as  paymaster  of  the  city, 
receiving  from  the  City  Treasurer  the  sums  due  to  city  officers, 
school  teachers,  police,  firemen,  workmen  upon  the  highways, 
and  others,  and  after  making  the  payments,  returning  the 
vouchers  to  the  treasurer.  These  payments  are  made  to  some 
fifteen  hundred  persons,  each  month,  and  scattered  throughout 
the  city,  and  during  his  discharge  of  this  duty  not  an  error  has 
occurred. 

For  his  fidelity,  I  have  appointed  him  Captain  of  Police,  and 
request  that  you  will  consent  thereto. 


186  OUR    POLICE. 

The  change  in  his  rank  will  make  no  change  in  the  work  as- 
signed for  him,  as  he  will  continue  in  the  same  place  as  at  present, 
but  it  seems  proper  that  the  responsible  duties  he  has  discharged 
so  well  shall  receive  suitable  recognition. 

THOMAS  A.  DOYLE, 
Mayor, 

Mayor's  Office, 
City  of  Providence,  Septemher  12,  1877, 

CaPT.  a.  J.  WiNSHIP, 

Dear  Sir  : — It  seems  highly  probable  that  Deputy  Chief  Ayer 
will  be  elected  to  the  office  of  Chief  of  Police,  and  that  thereby 
the  office  of  deputy  will  become  vacant. 

I  take  pleasure  in  tendering  for  your  acceptance  the  position 
of  deputy  should  it  thus  become  vacant,  with  the  fullest  confidence 
in  your  ability  to  properly  discharge  the  varied  duties  incumbent 
on  the  position,  and  in  this  opinion  Deputy  Ayer  heartily  con- 
curs. 

Yours  truly, 

THOMAS  A.  DOYLE, 

Mayor. 

Captain  Winship,  while  he  gratefully  appreciated  the  regard 
of  Mayor  Doyle,  declined  the  preferred  honor,  preferring  to  con- 
tinue his  accustomed  duties.  In  1881  and  1882  the  members  of 
the  Department  elected  Captain  Winship  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Police  Association,  and  he  attended  to  the  cares  of  that  office  in 
such  a  thorough  and  satisfactory  manner  that  deep  regret  was 
expressed  when  he  declined  a  re-election.  There  is  no  more 
genial  member  of  the  force  than  Captain  "Winship.  He  has  a 
friend  in  every  respectable  person  who  has  the  good  fortune  of 
his  acquaintance,  but,  with  all  his  good  humor,  he  is  firm  and 
rigid  in  matters  pertaining  to  his  public  trust. 


OUB   POLICJB.  187 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PROPERTY  CLERK  BLANDING. — SERVICE  IN  THE  ARMY  AND 
NAVY. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  FORCE. — A  TRAMP  ROBS  THE  CEN- 
TRAL POLICE  STATION. — DESPERATE  STRUGGLE  WITH  RUF- 
FIANS.— DUTIES  OF  THE  PROPERTY  CLERK. — SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  HACKS  NORCROSS  AND  THE  VETERAN  SOLDIERS. — PROMPT 
CAPTURE  OF  THIEVES. — CLERK  OF  POLICE  HORTON. — THE  COM- 
ICAL SIDE  OF  A  policeman's  LIFE.— ""JUST  THE  MAN  I  WAS 
LOOKING  for!" — "WAIT  TILL  I  GET  MY  MITTENS." — AWN- 
INGS ON  MY  BEAT." — A  CANDIDATE  FOR  POLICE  HONORS  WHO 
SOON  GOT  TIRED. 

Mr.  Stephen  F.  Blanding  is  the  Property  Clerk  at  police 
headquarters.  His  duties  are  to  take  charge  of  any  property 
taken  from  prisoners,  and  to  have  the  same  ready  upon  any  order  of 
the  court,  or  the  removal  or  discharge  of  a  prisoner.  Mr. 
Blanding  has  been  twenty  years  upon  the  police  force.  Born 
on  March  28,  1836,  he  was  old  enough  to  do  good  service  in  the 
war  for  the  Union,  and  enlisted  first  in  the  navy,  from  which  he 
was  honorably  discharged,  and  next  in  the  Third  Massachusetts 
Heavy  Artillery,  being  finally  mustered  out  of  the  service  on 
September  18,  1865,  when  the  great  struggle  was  over,  and  the 
veterans  started  for  their  homes  again.  Three  years  later,  Sep- 
tember 7,  1868,  Mr.  Blanding  was  appointed  a  patrolman  by 
Mayor  Doyle,  and  assigned  to  Station  Three.  He  made  an 
honorable  record.  One  of  the  queer  arrests  made  by  officer 
Blanding  was  that  of  a  tramp  who  actually  robbed  the  Central 
Police  Station.  The  fellow's  name  was  John  Dunn.  He  entered 
the  station  one  afternoon,  passed  upstairs  to  the  patrolmen's  sleep- 
ing rooms,  and  put  on  an  officer's  uniform  dress  coat,  buttoning 
over  it  a  shorter  coat,  so  that  the  blue  tails  with  brass  buttons  hung 
down  beneath  it.  Then,  having  obtained  a  piece  of  soap,  he 
marched  deliberately  out  by  the  front  way,  past  the  clerk's  and 


188  OUR   POLICE. 

captain's  offices.  He  was  seen  by  officer  Blanding,  who  thought 
his  appearance  so  remarkable  that  he  brought  him  back  for  a 
more  careful  survey.  Whether  he  meant  to  eat  the  soap  or  wash 
with  it  can  only  be  surmised.  He  was  sent  to  the  State  Farm. 
Officer  Blanding  was  also  detailed  to  accompany  Chief  Knowles 
and  Captain  Ayer  in  the  first  seizure  made  under  the  prohibitory 
law  of  1874.  Another  arrest  like  that  of  Dunn,  showing  the 
quick  intuition  so  valuable  in  a  police  officer,  occurred  in  Novem- 
ber, 1884.  James  Austin  had  served  a  term  in  jail  for  stealing 
a  buggy  from  William  J.  Sheldon.  After  his  release  Austin 
visited  the  police  station  to  obtain  some  articles  taken  from  him 
at  the  time  of  his  arrest.  Property  Clerk  Blanding  told  him  to 
call  again  on  Monday.  Later  in  the  day  Mr.  Blanding  was  on 
Olney  street,  when  he  noticed  Austin  drive  a  handsome  buggy 
to  the  door  of  a  liquor  shop,  step  down,  and  enter.  The  officer 
thought  he  would  wait  a  while,  and  observe.  Austin  came  out 
visibly  intoxicated,  and  tried  to  get  into  the  buggy.  Mr.  Bland- 
ing went  up  to  him  and  asked  where  he  had  got  the  horse  and 
carriage.  Austin  replied  that  he  had  owned  it  for  six  months. 
"Are  you  not  the  man,"  said  the  Property  Clerk,  "who  has 
some  things  in  the  City  Hall?"  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  am." 
"  Then  come  with  me,  I  am  going  there,  and  we  will  get  them," 
said  the  obliging  clerk.  The  man  assented,  and  Austin  was 
driven  to  the  City  Hall  and  locked  up.  The  horse  and  buggy 
proved,  of  course,  to  have  been  stolen. 

Mr.  Blanding  owes  his  position  as  Property  Clerk  to  a  des- 
perate struggle  which  he  had  with  half  a  dozen  ruffians  about 
two  o'clock  one  bitter  cold  morning  in  January,  1873.  The 
bullies  were  coming  down  Transit  street  from  Benefit  street 
shouting  and  breaking  windows.  They  insulted  the  officer  when 
he  spoke  to  them,  and  at  length  assaulted  him  on  James  street. 
He  faced  the  ruffians  with  his  back  toward  the  hill,  and  gradually 
retreating.  One  big  fellow,  of  over  two  hundred  weight,  tried  to 
close  in  on  the  officer,  who,  seizing  a  good  opportunity,  laid  him 
low  with  a  stunning  blow  on  the  head.  As  the  assailant  fell,  a 
large  stone  from  another  of  the  crowd  struck  Mr.  Blanding, 
breaking  his  collar  bone.     Mr.  Blanding's  right  arm  was  dis- 


STEPHEN  F.  BLANDING. 


OUR   POLICE.  191 

abled.  He  shifted  his  club  to  the  left  hand,  and  tried  to  draw 
his  revolver.  The  ruffians  fled,  the  one  who  had  b^en  stunned 
recovering  sufficiently  to  follow  the  rest,  which  he  did,  pursued 
by  officer  Blanding.  The  fellow  came  to  a  halt  on  the  west  side 
of  South  Main  street  and  squared  off  to  Mr.  Blanding,  who 
parried  his  blows  without  coming  to  close  quarters,  not  wishing 
to  expose  his  disabled  condition,  and  hoping  for  assistance  to 
arrive.  Officer  Henry  Powers,  on  the  adjoining  beat,  heard  the 
affray,  and  hastened  to  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Blanding.  The 
bully  was  captured.  Mr.  Blanding  was  ♦found  to  be  severely 
injured.  After  partial  recovery  he  went  on  patrol  duty  a  short 
time,  and  was  then  detailed  to  the  station.  There  he  proved  so 
useful  in  the  repair  of  electric  apparatus  and  other  ways  which 
saved  expense  to  the  city,  that  it  was  decided  to  retain  him. 
The  licensing  of  dogs  was  also  entrusted  to  him,  thus  saving  to 
the  city  the  fee  of  fifteen  cents  on  each  dog.  This,  with  other 
items  saved,  amounts  to  more  than  enough  to  pay  for  the  office  of 
Property  Clerk.  Mr.  Blanding  has  several  times  declined  a 
sergeantcy,  and  once  a  lieutenantcy.  The  pay  of  the  Property 
Clerk  is  only  that  of  a  patrolman.  Mr.  Blanding  is  the  author 
of  an  interesting  book — '^  Recollections  of  a  Sailor  Boy ;  or,  The 
Cruise  of  the  Gunboat  Louisiana,"  giving  a  vivid  and  well-written 
account  of  his  experiences  in  the  navy. 

What  George  H.  Norcross,  the  Superintendent  of  Hacks,  does 
not  know  about  the  public  carriages  of  Providence  would  take 
but  little  time  to  tell.  Born  in  Lancaster,  Massachusetts,  in 
1829,  Mr.  Norcross  became,  early  in  life,  a  resident  of  this  city, 
and  followed  the  occupation  of  carriage-owner  and  driver  for 
many  years  before  he  joined  the  police  force.  He  had  the  cream 
of  the  trade.  Straight  in  his  dealings,  and  fair  and  accommodat- 
ing in  disposition,  he  attracted  the  patronage  of  the  better  sort  of 
people,  many  of  whom  would  wait  an  hour  or  two  rather  than 
take  another  escort.  In  the  war  times  Mr.  Norcross  was  kept 
busy  night  and  day,  and  he  never  hesitated,  irrespective  of  com- 
pensation, to  carry  free  the  sick  or  wounded  soldier,  arrived  on 
the  threshold  of  home,  but  unable  to  totter  to  the  household  that 
anxiously  awaited  his  coming.     Many  a  time,  Mr.  Norcross  hap- 


192  OUR   POLICE. 

pened  to  be  near  by  when  a  maimed  and  weary  Rhode  Island 
soldier  was  being  jostled  into  an  express  wagon,  to  be  rattled  over 
the  cobble  stones  through  the  streets  of  his  native  or  adopted  city. 
On  such  occasions  Mr.  Norcross  would  open  wide  his  carriage 
doors,  and  freely  invite  the  veteran  to  the  cushions  well-fitted 
for  his  tired  and  aching  limbs.  The  soldier  may  not  have  had 
a  cent,  but  Mr.  Norcross  felt  sufficiently  rewarded  to  see  the 
stricken  warrior  sink,  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  on  the  soft  and  com- 
forting seat,  while  not  unfrequently  tears  of  gratitude  would  chase 
each  other  down  the  bi"onzed  and  emaciated  cheeks. 

Mr.  Norcross  was  appointed  to  the  force  October  1,  1866.  He 
was  a  welcome  accession ;  for  the  police  had  always  liked  him, 
and  always  found  him  a  model  driver  and  law-abiding  citizen.  In 
January,  1867,  there  was  a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  Mr.  Norcross 
was  then  patrolling  from  Knight  street  to  Olney ville,  and  the  in- 
tervening streets.  As  Officer  Norcross  was  passing  through 
Knigiit  street,  about  five  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  storm,  he 
noticed  a  dark  object,  dimly  discernible  amid  the  snow-flakes, 
prostrate  and  partly  sunk  in  a  snow-drift.  Mr.  Norcross  found  a 
man  in  an  unconscious  condition,  and  so  chilled  that  he  could  not 
move  his  eye-lids.  The  Knight  street  station  was  not  then  open 
in  the  day-time ;  everybody  who  was  able  to  get  in-doors  was 
there,  and,  seeing  no  sign  of  help,  Mr.  Norcross  shouldered  the 
nearly  frozen  unfortunate,  and  struggled  through  the  drifting 
snow  with  his  burden  as  far  as  Union  street.  There  he  met 
Officer  Jones,  now  warrant  officer,  and  together  they  succeeded  in 
getting  the  man  to  the  Central  Station.  Vigorous  methods  were 
resorted  to,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  victim  of  the  storm 
came  to  his  senses.  Mr.  Norcross  had  good  reason  to  congratu- 
late himself  on  having  saved  a  life. 

One  Sunday,  in  the  same  year,  1867,  Mr.  Norcross  noticed  an 
aged  man,  bent  nearly  double,  and  supporting  himself  with  a 
cane,  ringing  the  bells  of  houses,  from  door  to  door.  The  old 
man  was  begging  for  money  to  help  him  to  Boston.  Thinking 
that  such  a  decrepit  and  aged  man  should  be  aided  by  the 
city,  if  in  need  of  aid,  Mr.  Norcross  took  him  to  the  station. 
He  proved  to  have  seven  hundred  dollars  in  money. 


GEORGE  H.  NOKCEOSS. 


OUR    POLICE.  195 

Mr.  Norcross  held  for  a  number  of  years  the  place  of  door- 
man, first  at  the  Central  Station,  afterward  at  the  Second  Sta- 
tion, a  position  which  frequently  called  for  the  exercise  of  careful 
judgment  and  quick  intuition,  in  grasping  the  scope  of  any 
matter  that  might  suddenly  be  brought  to  his  £tttention.  On 
December  14,  187T,  Mr.  Norcross  was  told  by  a  Pawtucket 
horse-car  driver  that  several  houses  in  Pawtucket  had  been 
broken  into  the  previous  day,  and  a  large  amount  of  jewelry 
stolen.  A  few  hours  after  Mr.  Norcross  had  received  this  infor- 
mation, a  man  stepped  into  the  station,  and  asked  Mr.  Norcross 
if  he  knew  two  men  who  were  passing  at  the  time.  Mr.  Nor- 
cross replied  in  the  negative,  and  asked  the  man  why  he  made 
the  inquiry.  The  answer  was — "  Oh,  nothing — only  those  two 
fellows  came  into  my  shop  in  Pawtucket,  yesterday  afternoon, 
and,  after  remaining  awhile,  and  looking  around  rather  queerly, 
went  away."  Mr.  Norcross  at  once  thought  of  the  robberies,  and 
started  rapidly  for  the  two  suspicious  strangers.  A  spitz  dog 
belonging  to  the  veteran  policeman,  Theodore  Rutherford,  ran 
barking  after  the  doorman.  The  strangers  heard  the  dog  bark, 
looked  back,  saw  the  officer  coming  toward  them  and  started  on 
a  run.  Mr.  Norcross  followed  at  a  more  rapid  rate,  and  captured 
the  fugitives  on  Biack  street,  near  Martin.  One  broke  away, 
but  was  taken,  after  a  long  chase,  by  officer  Hubbard.  The  jew- 
elry was  found  on  them  when  searched  at  the  station.  Their 
names  were  Patrick  Sullivan  and  John  Bender,  and  they  were 
convicted,  and  each  sentenced  to  five  years  in  the  State  Prison. 

Mr.  Norcross  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  Hacks,  Janu- 
ary 14,  1878,  and  has  faithfully  performed  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

Who  does  not  know  the  genial  face,  the  snapping  eyes,  and 
ruddy  cheeks  of  Clerk  of  Police  Seth  Luther  Horton  ?  Mr. 
Horton  was  born  in  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  twenty-second 
day  of  April,  1836,  and  received  the  name  which  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  borne  before  him.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  found 
Bristol  too  slow  for  him,  and  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  Provi- 
dence. When  fifteen  years  old  he  started  on  a  whaling  voyage, 
and  was  absent  for  three  years.     He  knew  when  he  had  enough 


196  OUK   POLICE. 

of  whale.  After  his  return  he  became  book-keeper  for  a  well- 
known  firm  of  coal  dealers,  and  while  thus  engaged  was  elected 
Moderator  of  East  Providence,  where  he  resided.  Since  gradua- 
ting as  Moderator  of  that  town  he  has  considered  himself  equal 
to  anything  in  the  way  of  suppressing  a  riot.  With  that  steadi- 
ness for  which  most  persons  of  tlje  name  of  Horton  are  noted, 
he  lost  but  three  weeks  time  in  eleven  years  service  as  book- 
keeper. He  accepted  an  appointment  as  night  patrolman,  June 
30,  1867.  Subsequently  he  was  roundsman  in  the  First  District 
for  three  years,  and  was  appointed  Clerk  of  Police,  August  14, 
1871,  when  Mr.  Ayer  was  promoted  to  be  Captain. 

As  patrolman  and  roundsman,  Mr.  Horton  has  had  some 
interesting  adventures.  Late  one  evening,  soon  after  his  appoint- 
ment on  the  force,  when  he  was  patrolling  his  down-town  beat, — 
the  cries  of  ,''  Murder  !  "  "Watch  !  "  accelerated  his  steps  to  a 
house  at  some  distance,  around  which  a  crowd  had  gathered. 
Great  excitement  prevailed  over  the  report  that  the  man  of  the 
house  had  just  killed  his  wife  in  a  quarrel.  The  woman  was,  in 
fact,  insensible  at  the  moment  from  the  rather  rough  handling 
she  had  received  from  her  angry  lord  and  master,  but  the  result 
was  nothing  serious.  On  the  appearance  of  the  policeman,  the 
excited  women-folks  raised  a  tumultuous  cry  for  the  arrest  of  the 
husband;  but  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  At  last  some  one 
remembered  seeing  him  go  up-stairs,  and  thither  Mr.  Horton 
started.  The  chamber  he  entered  appeared  to  be  empty,  but  the 
officer  observed  a  stockinged-foot  protruding  from  beneath  the 
unoccupied  bed.  Sagely  suspectinpr  that  more  was  concealed  than 
met  his  eye,  the  officer  rapped  the  exposed  extremity  smartly 
with  the  "locust,"  at  which  the  foot  was  promptly  withdrawn, 
and,  after  a  series  of  unfoldings,  the  husband  emerged  from  his 
retreat.  Mr.  Horton  was  never  more  taken  aback  than  when  the 
man  approached  him,  and  extended  his  hand  cordially,  saying : — 
"Mr.  Horton,  you're  just  the  man  I've  been  looking  for — I  want 
to  tell  you  what  a  scolding  jade  that  wife  of  mine  is." 

In  1870,  when  the  writer  was  a  reporter  for  the  Providence 
Journal,  a  colored  prisoner  was  brought  into  the  Central  Station. 
Mr.  Horton  was  taking  a  look  at  the  cells  after  dark.     When  he 


SETH  L.  HORTON. 


OUR    POLICE.  199 

came  to  the  one  containing  the  negro,  he  could  not  tell,  in  the 
dim  light,  whether  the  inmate  was  white  or  black. 

"  Hello,  in  there — are  you  colored?  "  demanded  the  rounds- 
man. 

"  No,  boss,"  replied  the  negro,  naively,  "  I  was  born  so." 

There  was  a  wealth  of  philosophy  in  the  ingenuous  reply,  and 
when  Mr.  Horton  related  the  incident,  the  writer  promptly  re- 
ported it  in  the  Journal.  The  little  story  was  copied  far  and 
wide,  and  Mr.  Horton  was  amused,  years  afterward,  to  hear  it  re- 
peated by  John  B.  Gough,  the  temperance  lecturer,  in  Music 
Hall. 

While  Mr.  Horton  was  clerk,  at  the  Central  Station,  a  good- 
looking  colored  girl  called  and  said  that  she  wanted  a  colored 
man  arrested.  "  He  has  promised  to  marry  me,"  she  said,  "  and 
is  going  to  leave  town."  "  We  cannot  arrest  him  for  that,"  an- 
swered Mr.  Horton.  "  All  that  I  want  him  taken  for,"  pleaded 
the  young  woman,  tearfully,  "  is  to  keep  him  here  until  the  reg- 
ular meeting  day  of  the  church,  when  they'll  give  him  a  dressing- 
down  for  being  such  a  scoundrel.  He's  up  there  prayin'  as  hard 
as  any  of  them  now."     Of  course  no  warrant  could  be  issued. 

Mr.  Horton  possesses  a  fund  of  anecdotes  in  relation  to  the 
police.  On  one  occasion  a  green  patrolmen  excused  himself  for 
being  late  at  the  station — as  he  supposed — on  the  ground  that 
some  trouble  had  detained  him  on  his  beat.  He  was  «,  little 
confused  when  the  sergeant  in  charge  pointed  to  the  clock  with 
the  remark  "you  are  just  one  haur  ahead  of  time." 

It  was  a  bleak  December  day,  before  the  period  when  the 
outer  stations  were  opened  for  the  detention  of  prisoners.  A 
patrolmen  belonging  to  the  Third  Station  had  captured  a  victim, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  the  watch-house.  The  wintry  wind  blew 
sharp  and  keen,  and  the  officer's  fingers,  not  yet  seasoned  to  a 
policeman's  unhappy  lot,  ached  for  something  to  warm  them. 
The  officer  and  his  man  were  nearly  opposite  the  old  Third  Sta- 
tion ;  the  prisoner  was  as  meek  as  a  lamb,  and  seemed  rather  to 
enjoy  the  policeman's  company.  The  officer  halted  near  the 
station  house.  "  Just  wait  here,"  he  said  to  his  captive  "  while  I 
go  in  and  get  my  mittens."     He  got  his  mittens  ;  he  could  not 


200  OUR   POLICE. 

resist  the  temptation  to  linger  a  moment  over  the  cozj  old  Ben 
Franklin  stove.  Then  he  stepped  forth  again  into  the  cheerless 
street.  He  gazed  around ;  the  prisoner  was  not  there.  He  had, 
with  a  lack  of  courtesy  that  indicated  some  fault  in  his  bringing- 
up,  incontinently  disappeared — perhaps  he,  too,  had  gone  after  a 
pair  of  mittens.  "Where  is  your  man?"  said  the  captain,  a 
few  minutes  later,  when  the  officer  arrived  at  the  watch-house. 
"Well,  you  see,"  was  the  reply,  "he  took  advantage  of  my 
confidence  in  him  to  run  away."  "Your  confidence  in  him  !" 
exclaimed  the  captain,  sternly — "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  Then 
the  story  came  out.  That  patrolman  always  lodged  his  prisoners 
at  their  destination  afterward,  before  he  went  for  his  mittens. 

About  eighteen  years  ago  a  new  policeman  came  on  the  force. 
He  was  very  careful  about  his  attire.  Handsome  in  person, 
with  a  pure  white  shirt  front,  tastefully  set  off  by  a  fashionable 
necktie,  his  mustaches  waxed  a  la  Napoleon  III,  and  his  boots 
shining  like  an  advertisement  of  a  patent  blacking,  he  was  indeed 
a  model  for  his  fellows.  The  new  arrival  was  put  on  night  duty. 
The  floodgates,  which  a  kind  Providence  above  permits  to  some- 
times wash  out  the  Cove,  were  opened  one  night,  and  the  rain  fell, 
not  in  drops,  but  in  sheets.  Of  course  the  patrolmen  were,  or 
ought  to  have  been,  in  a  position  to  receive  a  share  of  the  moist- 
ure, and  when  the  hour  of  relief  came  they  sought  the  Central 
nearly  all  in  soaking  attire.  Charley  Oakes  was  one  of  those 
who  got  wet.  As  he  turned,  in  the  station-house,  to  intercept  the 
drops  that  were  trickling  down  his  neck,  his  eye  rested  on  the 
new  patrolman.  There  he  stood,  spick  and  span,  his  boots  as 
brilliant,  and  his  mustache  as  unruflied  as  if  he  had  just  stepped 
out  of  his  dressing-room.  "  How  in  thunder  did  you  keep  dry  ?" 
uttered  Oakes,  in  amazement.  "  There's  awnings  on  my  beat," 
replied  the  other,  complacently.  "  Humph  !"  remarked  Oakes, 
as  he  shook  another  drop  from  the  end  of  his  nose,  "  when  it 
pours  that  way  another  time,  there'll  be  awnings  on  my  beat." 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  policeman's  lot 
is  not  always  a  happy  one.  A  young  stone-mason  who  joined 
the  force,  some  years  ago,  thought  differently.  He  imagined  it 
was  a  berth  only  second  in  luxurious  ease  to  that  of  a  German 


OUR  POLICE.  201 

Prince  united  to  one  of  Queen  Victoria's  daughters,  and  that  a 
policeman  had  no  more  to  do  than  a  druggist  who  refuses  to  sell 
liquor  except  on  a  prescription.  After  considerable  effort  he 
received  an  appointment  on  trial,  it  then  being  the  rule  to  try 
men  for  six  months  before  confirmation.  He  was  assigned  to  a 
night  beat  which  included  College  and  some  other  streets  with  a 
toboggan  incline.  The  weather  alternated  between  zero  and 
sleet,  and  the  new  officer  would  have  found  skates  quite  a  con- 
venience. He  managed  to  get  through  the  first  night,  however, 
until  it  came  to  the  time  for  extinguishing  the  lights.  When  he 
tried  the  experiment,  at  the  head  of  College  street,  he  slipped. 
The  light  was  still  there ;  but  he  was  not.  A  fat  old  citizen,  of 
early  worm  or  cocktail  proclivities,  happened  to  be  crossing  South 
Main  street.  He  felt  himself  seized  by  the  lower  limbs  without 
warning,  and  carried  off  his  feet.  "  Murder !  Robbers  !  Watch  ! 
Police!"  he  cried,  vainly  struggling  with  the  supposed  highway- 
man. He  had  not  to  cry  long.  The  policeman  was  right  there. 
He  had  just  come  down  College  street,  and,  all  malicious  inu- 
endos  as  to  the  absence  of  policemen  on  critical  occasions  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding,  he  was  on  the  spot  at  the  exact 
moment  of  the  catastrophe.  In  fact  it  was  his  extended  limbs 
that  had  interrupted  the  fat  old  gentleman's  morning  exercise. 
The  officer  gasped  an  apology ;  the  stout  person  spluttered  and 
fumed,  and  at  last  accepted  it.  Without  waiting  to  put  out  any 
more  lights  the  new  policeman  started  for  the  station.  "  Is  it  as 
hard  to  get  off  the  force  as  to  get  on  it  ?"  he  asked  the  sergeant  in 
charge.  "  Oh,  no,"  was  the  reply ;  "just  sign  a  piece  of  paper  ; 
that  will  do  the  business."  And  in  a  few  minutes  the  candidate 
for  the  blue  and  brass  again  breathed  freely.  He  has  since 
adhered  to  his  original  trade,  and  prospered. 

Mr.  Horton's  duties  include  the  keeping  of  all  the  records  of 
the  department,  a  duty  to  which  he  attends  with  the  thoroughness 
of  an  expert.  Besides,  he  has  to  answer  numerous  questions, 
and  give  all  sorts  of  information  to  all  sorts  of  people,  many  of 
whom  think  that  the  Clerk  of  Police  is  a  combination  of  city  di- 
rectory and  encyclopoedia.  And  Mr.  Horton  treats  every  one 
with  unvarying  good  humor.     If  he  ever  got  angry,  the  circum- 


202  OUR   POLICE. 

stance  has  been  blotted  from  the  books.  He  hardly  looks  the 
half  a  century  or  so  to  which  he  confesses,  and  his  healthy  com- 
plexion— the  real  color  of  temperance — and  hearty  form,  indicate 
that  be  has  a  good  share  of  another  half  century  ahead  of  him. 
It  should  be  added,  that  Mr.  Horton  was,  for  twelve  years,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Police  Association,  fulfilling  the  duties  of  that  office 
to  the  acceptance  of  his  colleagues. 


OUR   POLICE.  208 


I 


CHAPTER   XII. 

ACTINQ  POLICE  SURGEON  PALMER. — CHIEF  GROSS  SAW  THE  NEED 
OF  A  REGULAR  SURGEON.  —  THE  OFFICER  WHO  WAS  FLYING 
KITES. — HOW  THE  CITY  HAS  BEEN  A  GAINER. — MUCH  LESS 
SICKNESS  WITH  A  LARGE  FORCE.  —  "NOMINAL  SICKNESS." — 
A  SUPPLEMENTARY  POLICE  FORCE  SUGGESTED.  —  SERGEANT 
THOMAS  D.  TOPLIFP. — OFFICER  JOHN  B.  LIVSEY.  —  WARRANT 
OFFICERS  JONES  AND  LONG. 

Dr.  William  H.  Palmer,  the  acting  Police  Surgeon,  was 
bom  at  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  May  29, 1831.  He  went  through 
a  collegiate  course  at  Yale,  and  obtained  his  medical  and  surgical 
education  in  the  Harvard  Medical  College  and  New  York  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Palmer  left  a  growing  practice  as  a  physician  to 
serve  as  surgeon  with  the  Third  New  York  Cavalry,  in  the  war 
for  the  Union.  He  was  three  years  in  the  field  with  that  com- 
mand, holding,  as  regimental  surgeon,  the  rank  of  Major. 
When  Richmond  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  national  forces,  Dr. 
Palmer  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  hospital  there,  as  Acting  Staff 
Surgeon,  U.  S.  A.,  and  continued  to  hold  this  important  office 
in  Richmond  and  at  other  hospitals  in  Virginia  until  the  autumn 
of  1866.  Dr.  Palmer  then  removed  to  Providence,  and  built  up 
a  profitable  medical  connection.  At  this  time  there  was  no  Police 
Surgeon,  either  acting  or  official,  and  practically  no  examination 
for  admission  to  the  force.  Candidates  were  sent  to  a  surgeon, 
who,  after  glancing  at  them,  or  possibly  putting  his  ear  to  their 
breasts,  without  requiring  them  to  strip,  passed  promptly,  and, 
as  an  almost  invariable  rule,  favorably,  upon  their  fitness.  The 
excuse  of  illness  was  greatly  abused,  and  the  city  was  often 
defrauded  of  the  services  for  which  it  paid  a  fair  equivalent.  A 
surgeon  had  to  be  summoned,  when  occasion  demanded,  to  treat 
policemen  or  prisoners,  who  were  injured,  or  suddenly  ill.  Dr. 
Palmer's  office  being  convenient  to  the  Central  Station,  he  wai 


204  OUR   POLICE. 

frequently  called  upon — happily  much  more  frequently  than  to- 
day— for  much  less  force  is  now  exercised  with  prisoners  than 
twenty  years  ago,  when  the  rougher  sort  had  not  yet  learned  that 
the  organized  police  was  a  body  of  very  different  character  from 
the  watchmen  of  former  days,  and  that  it  was  cheaper  to  submit 
to  arrest  than  meet  the  certain  penalty  of  resistance. 

The  experienced  and  practical  mind  of  the  late  Chief  Gross  saw 
the  need  of  a  regular  police  surgeon.  He  saw  that  the  malingerers 
were  throwing  additional  work  on  the  conscientious  and  dutiful 
members  of  the  force,  and  that  sickness  was  often  a  pretence  only 
to  cover  a  holiday  in  or  out  of  the  city.  *  He  therefore  began  to 
employ  Doctor  Palmer  to  visit  policemen  absent  on  the  pretext  of 
illness,  and  report  as  to  their  condition.  One  of  the  doctor's 
early  visits  was  to  the  home  of  an  officer,  for  many  years  a 
worthy,  earnest,  and  active  member  of  the  force.  The  officer's 
wife  did  not  know  what  the  visit  meant,  and  readily  indicated 
to  the  inquirer  where  the  alleged  sick  man,  to  all  appearances 
happy  and  healthy,  was  enjoying  himself  flying  kites  in  the  field. 
The  incident  got  to  be  a  standing  joke  in  the  department,  and 
that  officer's  temper  used  to  soar  whenever  he  heard  an  allusion  to 
a  kite. 

The  espionage  of  a  surgeon  was  something  extremely  distasteful 
in  those  early  days  of  the  police,  and  Doctor  Palmer  was  propor- 
tionately unpopular.  To  the  Chief,  however,  his  services  were 
eminently  satisfactory,  and  Chief  John  M.  Knowles,  who  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Gross,  upon  the  death  of  the  latter,  made  a  regular 
arrangement  with  Doctor  Palmer  for  visitations  and  reports, 
instead  of  the  doctor  only  answering  the  special  request  of  the 
Chief,  as  formerly. 

Doctor  Palmer  is  paid  for  his  services  according  to  monthly 
charges.  He  does  not  consider  it  necessary  to  make  daily  visits 
to  the  sick,  who  are,  of  course,  at  liberty  to  select  any  physician 
they  please,  but  makes  his  visits  only  often  enough  to  be  able  to 
offer  a  correct  report  as  to  their  condition.  He  thus  avoids 
running  up  an  exorbitant  claim  against  the  city.  It  may  be 
mentioned  here  that  the  Chief  Police  Surgeon  in  New  York 
receives  ?4,000,  and  the  District  Surgeon  $3,000  annually ;  they 


T.    D.    TOPLIFF, 
Sergeant  City  HalL 


«    t      »      t  t 


OUR  POLICE.  207 

are  required  to  render  medical  aid  to  policemen,  free  of  expense, 
and  their  report  as  to  a  man's  condition  is  final,  which  is  not 
the  case  as  regards  Doctor  Palmer,  whose  report  that  a  man  is 
fit  for  duty  is  simply  prima  faeie  evidence  to  that  efiect. 

That  the  city  has  been  the  gainer  by  the  employment  of  an 
Acting  Police  Surgeon  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  whereas  in 
1876,  with  a  considerably  smaller  police  force,  the  total  number 
days  of  sickness  was  2,773  ;  in  1878  the  number  had  diminished 
to  1,475,  and  in  1887,  to  756.  Even  much  of  this  illness.  Dr. 
Palmer  says,  is  "  nominal  sickness  from  the  demands  of  tired 
nature  for  a  day  of  rest."  '"'  Nominal  sickness,"  he  adds,  "is  not, 
as  a  rule,  reported  from  the  desire  of  the  officer  to  get  a  day's 
pay  without  a  day's  work,  but  only  to  get  a  day's  rest,  and,  if 
not  one  in  seven,  at  least  one  in  many  seven  days.  And  this 
occasional  day  for  rest  and  recreation  is  really  needed  by  very 
many  officers  who  find  police  service  equal  to  and  sometimes  ex- 
ceeding their  physical  ability.  If,  therefore,  the  service  of  a 
policeman  would  be  had  at  its  best,  I  am  fully  satisfied,  after  my 
long  acquaintance  with  the  service,  that  the  officers  must  have 
more  holidays,  more  days  for  rest  and  recreation.  This  desidera- 
tum could  be  readily  obtained  without  any  increase  of  the  force 
and  its  expense  by  an  ordinance  that  shall  establish  a  small  sup- 
plementary police  force  to  be  known  as  call  policemen.  Such  a 
service  would  afford  a  good  opportunity  to  test  the  qualifications 
of  police  applicants,  and  at  the  same  time  provide  for  days  of  rest 
and  recreation,  when  needed  by  the  regular  officers,  and  also  se- 
cure available  service  for  that  which  is  now  wholly  lost  through  the 
continued  sickness  of  officers  or  from  their  suspension,  or  is  only 
partly  supplied  by  extra  hours  of  work  of  those  on  duty." 

Sergeant  Thomas  D.  Topliff  was  born  in  Providence  in  1842. 
He  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Navy,  April,  1861,  as  seaman ; 
was  promoted  to  master  mate,  and  assigned  to  the  United  States 
Ship  Minnesota,  of  the  North  Atlantic  Blockading  Squadron. 
Mr.  Topliff  participated  in  the  fight  when  Forts  Hatteras  and 
Clark  were  captured.  He  witnessed  the  struggle  between  the 
monster  Merrimac  and  the  little  Monitor,  and  he  assisted  in  the 
dangerous   occupation  of  removing  obstructions  in  the  James 


208  OUR    POLICE. 

river.  Sergeant  Topliff  resigned  from  the  United  States  service 
January  1,  1865.  He  was  appointed  on  the  police  force  July 
28,  1879 ;  promoted  to  Sergeant,  January  20,  1881 ;  Day  Ser- 
geant, November  4, 1887,  and  was  assigned  to  polioe  headquarters. 

Oflficer  John  B.  Livsey,  on  duty  at  the  City  Hall,  was  born  in 
Newbury  port,  Massachusetts,  in  1840.  He  was  a  mariner  by 
occupation,  and  appointed  on  the  police  force,  December  22,  1864. 
June  5,  1865,  Officer  Livsey  while  patrolling  his  beat,  on  Pot- 
ter's avenue,  saw  a  colored  man  minus  a  hat,  and  acting  sus- 
piciously. Mr.  Livsey  investigated,  and  found  that  Henry 
Sperry's  grocery  store,  300  Potter's  avenue,  had  been  entered 
through  a  rear  window,  and  the  store  rifled.  Mr.  Livsey  imme- 
diately ran  in  the  direction  taken  by  the  negro,  and  found  him 
hiding  in  an  out-building,  in  the  rear  of  Westminster  street ; 
after  a  sharp  run  the  officer  caught  him.  He  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  five  years  iiJ  the  State  Prison.  He-  gave  the  name 
of  Thomas  A.  Gardiner.  About  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of 
September  24,  1865,  Mr.  Livsey  was  informed  that  Detective 
James  0.  Swan's  house  had  been  entered  and  a  robbery  commit- 
ted while  the  family  were  at  supper.  Mr.  Livsey  proceeded  to 
the  house  and  commenced  a  search.  Indications  pointed  that 
the  thief  was  still  in  the  house.  In  searching  for  him  the  officer 
came  to  a  covered  stairway,  that  led  to  a  tenement.  It  was  dark 
as  a  pocket,  and  it  occured  to  the  officer  that  a  little  light  would 
not  be  out  of  place.  At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  he  procured  a 
match  from  the  depths  of  his  vest  pocket,  and  reached  out  to 
scratch  it  on  the  wall.  His  astonishment  can  be  imagined,  when 
instead  of  coming  in  contact  with  any  hard  substance,  he  drew 
the  match  across  some  person's  face.  Without  waiting  for  any 
more  light  on  the  subject,  he  immediately  grappled  with  the 
human  match-safe,  and  yanked  him  outside  into  the  street.  The 
thief,  William  Blake,  was  sent  to  prison  for  one  year. 

June  2,  1876,  the  report  of  fire-arms  attracted  the  attention  of 
Mr.  Livsey  while  patrolling  his  beat.  Elisha  Jones  had  broken 
into  a  house,  pilfered  the  pantry,  and  made  an  assault  on  the 
servant  girl  in  her  room,  the  family  being  absent.  Two  officers, 
attracted  to  the  spot  by  the  outcries  of  the  girl,  saw  the  fellow 


OUR  POLICE.  209 

as  he  ran  from  the  house.  They  gave  chase  and  fired  two  shots, 
but  the  thief  escaped.  Mr.  Livsey  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  had  not  fled  very  far,  and  prosecuting  a  search,  found  him 
hiding  in  an  out-house  a  short  distance  from  where  the  robbery 
was  committed.  After  a  short  but  decisive  struggle,  Mr.  Livsey 
subdued  and  placed  him  under  arrest.  He  was  convicted  of 
breaking  and  entering,  and  sentenced  to  the  State  Prison  for  a 
term  of  five  years. 

The  warrants  issued  by  the  Chief  of  Police  are  served  by  two 
warrant  officers  detailed  from  the  patrolmen.  Upon  these  officers 
is  also  imposed  the  task  of  conveying  prisoners  sentenced  by  the 
District  and  Police  Courts  to  the  County  Jail  and  State  Farm  in 
Cranston.  No  member  of  the  force  is  better  known  than  the 
veteran  Warrant  Officer,  Edwin  R.  Jones.  Born  in  what  is  now 
Pawtucket,  on  the  Rhode  Island  side  of  the  line,  June  28,  1834, 
Mr.  Jones  was  brought  to  this  city  when  a  very  small  boy.  His 
black  eyes  indicate  that,  as  a  small  boy,  he  may  have  been  mis- 
chievous. He  learned  the  trade  of  a  jeweller,  and  worked  faith- 
fully at  that  respectable  calling  until  appointed  on  the  police 
force,  August  15, 1864.  Mr.  Jones  never  was  a  night  patrolman. 
His  beats  were  Market  Square,  Canal  street,  Weybosset  and 
"Westminster  streets.  Upon  the  latter  he  remained  about  four 
years.  Mr.  Jones  has  had  some  queer  experience  with  prisoners, 
but  being  naturally  of  a  pleasant  disposition  he  has  doubtless 
escaped  many  encounters  that  harshness  would  have  provoked. 
One  cold  morning,  in  midwinter,  a  female  prisoner  deliberately 
threw  herself  into  the  canal,  at  a  place  where  she  might  have 
drowned.  Mr.  Jones,  aided  by  a  male  prisoner,  rescued  the 
woman,  who  was  chilled  nearly  to  death.  In  the  days  when 
prisoners  were  conveyed  in  an  express  wagon  to  the  State  Farm, 
the  risk  of  escape  was  much  greater  than  now,  with  a  railway,  but 
both  Mr.  Jones  and  his  then  associate,  Mr.  Hunt,  were  vigilant 
in  the  oversight  of  their  human  cargoes.  Mr.  Jones  is  now  on 
the  shady  side  of  life,  but  he  is  apparently  as  vigorous,  active  and 
good  humored,  as  when  he  first  went  on  the  force. 

Mr.  Isaiah  Long,  the  associate  of  Mr.  Jones  in  the  service  of 
warrants,  was  born  at  Chatham,  Mass.,  March  13,  1841,  and 


210  OUR   POLICE. 

received  an  academic  education.  He  preferred  the  sea,  however, 
and  made  many  a  journey  across  the  ocean  to  Mediterranean  and 
other  ports,  rising  from  common  seaman  to  master  of  a  vessel. 
In  June,  1874,  Mr.  Long  became  a  patrolman  at  the  First  Sta- 
tion. After  three  years  of  patrol  duty  he  was  detailed  as  call- 
man  at  the  Central,  and  when  Mr.  Child,  now  Chief  of  Police, 
was  sent  to  the  Fourth  Station  as  Sergeant,  Mr.  Long  succeeded 
him  as  door-man.  Mr.  Long  held  the  office  of  door-man  until 
detailed  as  Warrant  Officer,  to  succeed  Mr.  Hunt,  elected  Chief. 


OUR   POLICE.  211 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

m 

THE  DEl:ECl:lVE  BUREAU.  —  NOTORIOUS  CRIMINALS  WHO  HAVE 
COME  TO  GRIEF  IN  PROVIDENCE. — DETECTIVE  SWAN. — HOW 
HE  BAFFLED  A  MOB  OF  BOUNTY- JUMPERS. — A  DESERTER  NOT 
BORN  TO  BE  SHOT. — ARREST  AND  DEATH  OF  CHARLEY  MOWRY. 
— DETECTIVE  PARKER. — THE  FIRST  SOLDIER  TO  MEET  GENERAL 
SHERIDAN  ON  HIS  FAMOUS  RIDE. — A  CAPTURED  BURGLAR  LOSES 
HIS  SPEECH  THROUGH  FEAR.  BRINGING  A  LICENTIOUS  SCOUN- 
DREL TO  THE  PUBLIC  PILLORY. — EX-SERGEANT  MURRAY. — A 
RECORD  OF  EFFICIENT  AND  COURAGEOUS  SERVICE. 

.When  George  Calamity,  one  of  the  burglars  who  broke  into 
the  house  of  Christopher  Lippitt,  Esq.,  on  Hope  street,  in  the 
spring  of  1869,  was  in  jail  awaiting  trial,  he  remarked  that 
nothing  in  connection  with  his  arrest  hurt  his  feelings  so  much 
as  the  fact  that;  after  operating  successfully  in  some  of  the  largest 
cities  in  the  country,  he  should  come  to  grief  in  "a  one-horse 
town  like  Providence."  If  Mr.  Calamity's  opportunities  for 
being  acquainted  with  Providence  had  not  been  so  calamitous  to 
himself,  he  might  have  known  better  than  to  call  this  wealthy 
and  lively  centre  of  industry  and  commerce  '^  a  one-horse  town." 
But  the  complaint  of  the  burglar  with  the  rueful  name  has  been 
uttered  in  substance  by  more  than  one  notorious  criminal,  who, 
after  evading  the  police  of  other  cities,  has  come  to  grief  in  these 
Plantations.  Charles  0.  Brockway,  Billy  Ogle,  George  Hammill, 
James  Dunmunway,  Charley  Mowry,  and  others,  who  had  eluded 
and  defied  the  authorities,  not  only  of  leading  American  cities, 
but,  in  some  instances,  of  Europe  also,  found  the  end  of  their 
tether  in  Providence,  and  received  sentences  likely  to  prove  ex- 
amples to  the  professional  offender  everywhere.  Those  who  did 
not  die  in  prison  have  sought  other  pastures  when  released,  and 
property  in  Rhode  Island  will  doubtless  be  secure  from  their 
depredations  in  the  future.     For 'this  satisfactory  condition  of 


212  OUR   POLICE. 

affairs  the  credit  is  due  to  all  the  police  force.  In  particular, 
however,  it  is  due  to  the  detective  police.  While  the  names  of 
these  detectives  will  appear  in  later  chapters,  in  connection  with 
the  history  of  memorable  cases  of  crime,  it  may  be  well  hereto 
give  a  sketch  of  the  officers  who  have  been  instrumental  in  bring- 
ing to  justice  so  many  foes  of  society. 

The  dean  of  the  detective  force  is  James  Osgood  Swan,  who 
certainly  does  not  look  the  sixty  years  which  he  will  have 
travelled  when  the  Christmas  holidays  come  *again.  Mr.  Swan 
is  a  native  of  Denmark,  Oxford  County,  Maine.  When  the 
Providence  and  Worcester  Railroad  was  first  opened  Mr.  Swan 
came  to  this  city,  and  was  employed  for  some  time  in  a  respon- 
sible position  in  connection  with  that  railway.  The  late  Mayor 
and  War  Governor,  James  Y.  Smith,  appointed  Mr.  Swan  a  day 
policeman.  He  had  previously  been  appointed  a  constable  under 
Mayor  Danforth,  while  in  the  service  of  the  Worcester  Railway, 
and  from  that  time  he  has  been  a  public  officer.  After  two  years 
duty  on  the  day  force  he  was  engaged  as  baggage-master  for  the 
Boston  and  Providence,  and  Providence,  Hartford  and  Fishkill 
Railroad  Companies  for  three  years,  when  he  resumed  day  police 
duty  until  the  commencement  of  the  war;  Mr.  Swan  enlisted  as 
a  private  in  the  First  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  and  afterwards  in 
the  Tenth.  In  the  First  he  was  detailed  to  special  service,  and 
in  the  Tenth  he  acted  as  Commissary  Sergeant.  Returning 
home  when  the  regiment  disbanded,  he  again  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  day  patrolman,  but  soon  after  entered  the  office  of 
Provost  Marshal  Hamlin  as  a  United  States  Detective,  in  which 
capacity  he  continued  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

Those  were  stirring  times,  in  the  North  as  well  as  the  front, 
and  Mr.  Swan  had  his  share  of  them.  While  he  was  in  the 
Provost  Marshal's  office  an  officer  from  New  York  arrived  here 
with  the  statement  that  a  number  of  recruits  in  the  barracks  on 
the  Cove  lands  were  deserters  from  that  city.  Captain  Hamlin 
and  Detective  Swan  accompanied  the  New  York  officer  to  the 
barracks,  where  the  officer  designated  forty  men  as  deserters. 
They  were  searched  for  the  bounties  of  $300  each,  which  they 
had  received  from  this  State,  but  no  part  of  the  money  could  be 


i.*^  »,SiP"Biiiil ; 


ROGUES'  gallery;*   *  *  *  * " 


•     "»'  • 


c      *      * 


OUR   POLICE.  215 

found  in  their  possession.  As  the  New  York  officer  insisted  on 
the  surrender  of  the  men,  they  were  shackled  together,  and 
placed  in  a  car  by  themselves,  together  with  four  others  who  had 
tried  to  escape  from  Rhode  Island  regiments.  Mr.  Swan,  with 
a  guard  of  six  soldiers,  took  charge  of  the  squad  of  deserters, 
with  orders  to  shoot  any  one  "who  should  endeavor  to  escape. 
On  the  way  to  New  York  one  of  the  deserters,  who  knew  Mr. 
Swan  personally,  gave  the  detective  a  hint  that  a  plot  was  in 
progress  to  escape  at  New  Haven  ;  Mr.  Swan  at  once  investigated, 
and  ascertained  that  twelve  of  his  prisoners  had  freed  themselves 
from  their  handcuffs  by  pushing  the  tin  foil  of  tobacco  under  the 
springs.  The  irons  were  replaced,  and  a  rope  obtained  from  the 
conductor,  but  the  men  promised  to  make  no  further  attempt  for 
liberty,  and  were  not  bound.  At  New  Haven  Mr.  Swan  took 
the  opportunity  to  telegraph  to  Colonel  Nugent,  the  Provost 
Marshal  at  New  York,  to  have  soldiers  in  readiness  on  the  arrival 
of  the  train,  and  told  the  conductor  to  stop  w^here  he  saw  the 
military  escort.  All  was  quiet  until  the  train  reached  New 
York.  Just  before  arriving  at  the  station  on  Twenty-seventh 
street  the  cars  halted,  and  the  deserters  discovered  two  files  of 
soldiers,  with  bayonets  fixed,  drawn  up  for  their  reception.  The 
rage  of  the  "bounty  jumpers"  to  find  themselves  outwitted  was 
undisguised.  They  had  intended  to  make  a  break  at  the  depot, 
and  scatter  in  every  direction,  hoping  to  evade  pursuit  by  ming- 
ling with  the  crowd  in  the  obscurity  of  the  evening.  With  a 
wild  howl  of  anger  they  dashed  their  irons  against  the  seats  and 
battered  them  until  but  a  single  pair  of  the  forty-four  sets  of 
handcuffs  remained  unbroken.  The  deserters  were  marched  to 
the  boat  for  Governor's  Island  that  night  under  a  strong  military 
guard.  On  their  way  they  made  an  attempt  to  escape  and  two 
of  their  number  were  shot. 

A  young  man,  a  native  of  this  city,  enlisted  in  the  Third 
Rhode  Island  Regiment,  and  went  with  it  to  South  Carolina,  de- 
serted in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  was  sentenced  to  be  shot,  but  con- 
trived to  escape.  He  was  arrested,  and  sent  to  Governor's  Island. 
He  again  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  sentries,  got  away,  and 
came  to  Providence.     Mr.  Swan  re-arrested  the  condemned  fugi- 


216  OUR    POLICE. 

tive,  and  took  him  back  to  Governor's  Island.  In  New  York 
City  the  prisoner  made  an  effort  to  regain  his  liberty,  but  was 
knocked  down  by  Mr.  Swan,  in  the  street,  after  which  he  yielded 
to  the  force  of  circumstances.  Four  times  the  prisoner  escaped 
from  Governor's  Island,  with  a  daring  that  might  have  won  him 
the  shoulder-straps,  if  displayed  in  the  field  of  battle ;  and  at 
last  the  authorities  forwarded  him  to  South  Carolina  to  be  made 
an  example  for  the  encouragement  of  others  who  might  be  in- 
clined to  show  the  white  feather.  He  was  placed  on  board  of  a 
vessel,  bound  for  the  Palmetto  State.  When  the  vessel  got  there, 
the  convict  was  again  missing.  It  is  supposed  that  he  exchanged 
clothing  with  some  one  on  board,  and  managed  to  get  ashore. 
It  is  certain  he  did  not  drown  himself,  as,  some  time  after  the 
war,  he  re-appeared  in  Rhode  Island. 

While  connected  with  the  Provost  Marshal's  office  Mr.  Swan 
went  on  at  different  times,  in  charge  of  several  hundred  deserters. 
He  brought  back  a  receipt  for  every  man.  Of  medium  size, 
strong  and  muscular,  although  Mr.  Swan  has  found  himself  in 
many  a  critical  situation,  it  has  always  been  his  good  fortune 
to  escape  personal  injury.  He  has  a  keen  and  observant  eye,  but 
is  as  different  from  the  detective  of  the  stage  and  the  story  paper 
as  could  well  be  imagined.  He  goes  about  his  business  in  a  cool, 
deliberate  way,  and  is  very  sure  to  get  his  man,  no  matter  how 
slight  the  clue. 

The  arrest  of  the  Boston  burglar,  Charley  Mowry,  for  break- 
ing into  the  residence  of  ex-Governor  James  Y.  Smith,  and  for 
other  robberies  in  this  city,  was  an  instance  in  which  detective 
ingenuity  foiled  well-laid  plans.  Mowry  was  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  criminals  that  ever  operated  in  this  vicinity,  and  all 
the  more  dangerous  because,  while  perpetrating  his  crimes,  he 
sometimes,  and  successfully,  endeavored  to  give  the  authorities  the 
impression  that  he  was  assisting  them  in  the  detection  of  crime. 
But  he  could  throw  no  dust  in  the  eyes  of  Detective  Swan,  who, 
from  the  first  moment  that  he  observed  Mowry  in  this  city,  made 
up  his  mind  to  watch  him.  Mowry 's  method  was  to  go  to  bed  in 
his  living-place  in  Boston,  making  his  retirement  as  open  as 
possible  to  the  people  of  the  household,  then  quietly  emerge  from 


OUR   POLICE.  217 

the  window,  take  a  late  train  for  Providence,  break  into  a  house 
or  perpetrate  some  other  crime,  take  the  earliest  train  for  Boston, 
make  his  entrance  as  he  had  made  his  exit,  and  go  innocently  to 
breakfast.  Of  course  this  established  an  alibi  that  could  only  be 
met  by  evidence  of  much  greater  force,  or  by  arrest  in  actual 
commission  of  a  burglary. 

But  Mr.  Swan  knew  Mowry's  haunts  in  this  city,  and  he 
shadowed  him.  The  unsuccessful  attempt  to  enter  ex- Governor 
Smith's  house,  -No.  177  Hope  street,  was  made  about  two  o'clock, 
on  the  morning  of  Monday,  April  13,  1874.  "Mowry  did 
that  job,"  concluded  Mr.  Swan,  when  the  case  was  reported  in 
the  morning,  "and  if  he  was  in  the  city  last  night,  he  visited  Tom 
Marry ott's."  Marryott's  bar  was  a  favorite  tippling  place,  and 
Mowry  seldom  visited  Providence  without  spending  an  hour  or 
two  there.  "  Was  Charley  Mowry  in  your  place  last  night  ?  " 
said  the  detective  to  Tom.  "  He  was  not,"  Tom  positively 
replied.  The  denial  was  reiterated.  "I'll  go  to  Boston,  and 
take  him  anyway,"  thought  Mr.  Swan,  for  he  was  convinced  by 
Marryott's  manner  that  he  was  lying  to  save  Mowry.  The  detec- 
tive had  not  got  far  on  his  way  to  the  depot,  when  Mrs.  Marry- 
ott  overtook  him,  "  Mr.  Swan,"  she  said,  "  Mowry  was  in  our 
place  last  night."  Mr.  Swan  at  once  proceeded  to  Boston,  and 
had  no  difficulty,  with  the  assistance  of  Officer  Dearborn,  of  the 
Boston  police,  in  securing  his  man.  Mowry  refused  to  come  to 
Rhode  Island  without  a  requisition.  This  was  obtained  from 
Governor  Howard,  and  Mowry  was  brought  to  Providence,  and 
arraigned  on  the  charge  of  burglary. 

The  young  cracksman,  who  had  been  discharged  from  the 
Charleston  State  Prison  only  the  previous  autumn,  pleaded  his 
own  case.  The  charge  on  which  he  was  prosecuted  was  breaking 
into  the  residence  of  Dr.  Wallace,  No.  173  Angell  street,  and 
stealing  $117.  In  the  higher  court  Mowry  was  defended  by  E. 
S.  Hopkins,  Esq.,  afterward  Assistant  Attorney- General.  The 
plausible  alibi  was  not  sufficient  to  establish  a  reasonable  doubt, 
in  the  face  of  overwhelming  circumstantial  evidence,  and  Mowry 
was  sentenced  to  State  Prison.  There  he  died,  confessing  before 
his  death  his  guilt,  not  only  of  the  Wallace  burglary,  and  of  the 


218  OUR   POLICE. 

attempt  upon  tlie  mansion  of  Governor  Smith,  but  of  a  burglary 
upon  the  house  of  J.  Erastus  Lester,  Esq.,  of  which  he  was  sus- 
pected. 

Detective  Swan  has  an  able  associate  in  Detective  Parker,  a 
native  of  this  city,  and  born  in  1847.  At  a  time  when  every 
incident  in  regard  to  General  Sheridan  is  of  interest,  it  should 
not  be  omitted  that  Mr.  Parker,  then  a  stripling  orderly,  was 
probably  the  first  of  the  army  to  be  accosted  by  that  gallant 
commander,  when  he  arrived  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  at  Win- 
chester. At  the  age  of  fifteen,  young  Parker  went  to  the  front 
with  the  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalry,  and,  boy  as  he  was,  took  a 
soldier's  share  m  the  battles  of  Cedar  Mountain,  the  Second  Bull 
Run,  Chancellorsville,  Fredericksburg,  Kelley's  Ford,  and  other 
noted  conflicts  of  the  war.  At  Kelley's  Ford,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  March,  1864,  Mr.  Parker  had  two  horses  shot  under  him. 
On  the  nineteenth  of  October,  1864,  the  day  made  famous 
by  Sheridan's  Ride,  the  youthful  orderly  was  detailed  to  carry  a 
dispatch  from  General  Torbett  to  Custer.  On  the  way  he  was 
stopped  by  General  Sheridan,  just  dashing  to  the  scene  of  the 
fight.  The  General  was  not  in  uniform,  as  sometimes  repre- 
sented ;  but  wore  a  blue  overcoat,  and  a  hat  not  of  the  drawing-room 
pattern.  Three  or  four  of  his  staff  were  with  him.  General 
Sheridan  asked  the  orderly  where  Torbett  was,  and,  from  a  knoll 
near  by,  the  young  Rhode  Island  soldier  pointed  out  the  situation 
of  that  officer's  troops.  Then  General  Sheridan  briefly  said — 
having  already  been  informed  of  the  orderly's  business — "  Now 
carry  your  dispatch  to  Custer."  The  dispatch  was  delivered. 
Mr.  Parker  remained  in  the  army  altogether  three  years  and  two 
months,  being  two  months  in  excess  of  his  term  of  enlistment. 
The  reason  for  this  was  that,  when  his  time  expired,  the  com- 
mand was  on  a  raid,  where  it  was  impossible,  or  very  inconvenient, 
to  comply  with  the  requisite  forms  of  mustering  out.  Besides 
his  service  in  the  field  he  was  for  some  time  a  prisoner  in  Libby 
and  Belle  Isle,  and  at  the  time  of  his  liberation  was  in  such  a 
weakened  condition  that  his  life  was  for  some  time  in  the  balance. 

Mr.  Parker  was  appointed  on  the  Providence  police  force 
May  1,  1874,  as  a  night  patrolman,  and  was  transferred  to  the 


OUR   POLICE.  219 

day  force  in  December  of  the  same  year.  In  May,  1876,  he 
was  assigned  to  the  railroad  station.  Soon  after  his  appointment 
he  began  to  display  a  peculiar  detective  ability  which  earned  the 
attention  of  his  superiors,  and  he  was  often  detailed  to  work  on 
special  cases.  One  of  these,  which  was  promptly  followed  by  his 
appointment  as  detective,  is  well  worth  relating.  About  May, 
1879,  the  residence  of  Dr.  Von  Gottschalk,  at  Westminster  and 
Walnut  streets,  was  entered  on  several  occasions,  during  the 
night,  and  various  articles  stolen.  At  first  the  doctor  did  not 
report  the  matter  to  the  police,  hoping  that  the  annoyance  would 
end  without  the  necessity  of  police  intervention.  Immunity, 
however,  encouraged  the  mysterious  plunderer,  and  the  visits 
were  repeated.  The  doctor  could  form  no  idea  as  to  the  culprit. 
Mr.  Parker  was  detailed  to  detect  the  offender,  if  possible,  and, 
after  a  vain  watch  of  several  nights,  during  which  there  was  no 
attempt  upon  the  house,  Mr.  Parker  was  recalled.  Then  followed 
another  robbery.  The  doctor  and  his  family  now  looked  upon 
the  matter  so  seriously  that  they  were  afraid  to  sleep  in  the 
dwelling ;  and  Mr.  Parker  was  again  detailed  to  get  at  the  bottom 
of  the  affair.  Noting  that  there  had  been  an  interval  of  several 
weeks  between  each  burglary,  Mr.  Parker  did  not  think  it  requi- 
site to  begin  his  watch  until  two  weeks  had  elapsed  after  the  last 
in  the  series.  He  resumed  his  vigil  on  a  Friday  night,  and 
waited  until  morning  without  any  discovery.  On  Saturday  night, 
about  ten  o'clock,  he  was  again  in  the  kitchen.  He  sat  in  the 
darkness,  and  directly  opposite  a  window.  No  one  but  the  doc- 
tor and  his  family  knew  that  he  was  there. 

For  hours  Mr.  Parker  kept  a  sleepless  watch.  Midnight  tolled, 
and  the  bustle  of  Saturday  night  gradually  died  away,  with  only 
an  occasional  footstep  to  relieve  the  sense  of  loneliness.  Suddenly 
the  detective  hears  something.  The  window  is  slowly  raised.  A 
knife  is  softly  passed  in  to  raise  the  latch  of  the  shutter.  As  a 
section  of  the  shutter  rolls  slowly  back,  the  gaslight  gleams  in 
from  Westminster  street ;  and  by  its  fitful  glow  the  detective, 
himself  unseen,  discerns  a  round  black  head  and  two  glistening 
eyes.  The  head  protrudes  over  the  window-sill,  and  listens.  The 
detective  hardly  breathes.     Then  black  hands  roll  back  the  shut- 


220  OUR   POLICE. 

ter  clear  of  the  window,  and  the  intruder  climbs  in,  body  and 
legs,  on  the  window  sill.  But  he  is  still  cautious.  He  lights  a 
match  and  looks  around.  By  the  light  of  the  match  he  sees  the 
detective.  "Then,"  said  Mr.  Parker,  "he  let  a  sound  escape 
him  so  unearthly,  so  expressive  of  utter  and  horrified  fear,  that  I 
was  myself  astonished.  But  only  for  a  moment.  The  single 
thought  possessed  me  that  my  month's  work  must  not  be  thrown 
away,  that  I  must  capture  that  man.  As  he  dropped  from  the 
window,  I  made  a  leap  for  him.  In  my  haste  my  forehead  struck 
the  window  sash,  and  I  was  nearly  stunned.  But  dazed  as  I  was 
I  ran.  The  burglar  darted  into  '  Shinbone  alley,*  and  I  after 
him.  He  was  a  good  runner,  and  younger  than  me.  As  I 
chased  him  into  Walker  street  he  turned  and  fired.  I  returned 
the  fire  twice.  I  gained  on  him,  and  on  Jackson  street,  near 
Washington,  I  seized  him.  He  made  no  resistance.  When  I 
questioned  him  on  the  way  to  the  station  house  he  gave  no  an- 
swer, and  seemed  unable  to  give  any.  At  the  Central  Station  he 
motioned  to  a  pencil  in  my  pocket,  and,  on  its  being  handed  to 
him,  he  wrote  on  a  piece  of  paper  his  correct  name  and  address. 
I  thought  I  had  captured  a  deaf  mute ;  but  he  proved  able 
enough  to  talk  on  the  following  day.  The  fact  seems  to  have 
been  that  he  was  so  paralyzed  by  fear  that  he  was  unable  to  talk. 
His  firing  the  pistol  was  more  mechanical  than  of  design,  and  he 
said  he  did  not  fire  at  me.  I  certainly  heard  no  bullet.  His 
name  was  Noble  H.  Grubb.  He  was  the  son  of  a  colored  minis- 
ter, and  had  been  employed  in  Dr.  Yon  Gottschalk's  house,  and 
was  therefore  familiar  with  it.  He  said  that,  hearing  nothing 
about  the  robberies  he  was  committing,  he  concluded  that  the 
articles  taken  had  not  been  missed,  and  therefore  continued 
stealing.  Grubb  was  sentenced  to  seven  years  in  State  Prison." 
"  In  this  case,"  added  Detective  Parker,  "I  found  the  usefulness 
of  letting  as  few  persons  as  possible  know  what  I  am  engaged 
upon.  Had  the  servants  in  the  house,  who  were  entirely  inno- 
cent of  any  connection  with  the  robberies,  been  permitted  to 
know  that  a  detective  was  in  the  house  watching  for  a  thief,  they 
might  have  casually  mentioned  the  matter  outside ;  it  might  have 
reached  Grubb's  ears,  and  he  would  not  have  been  captured." 


OUR    POLICE.  221 

John,  alias  Wax  McCormick,  a  notorious  and  successful 
"omnibus"  pickpocket  of  New  York,  was  neatly  captured  by 
Detective  Parker  in  this  city.  McCormick  had  stolen  $1,000 
from  one  passenger  and  $1,600  from  another  in  a  New  York 
omnibus.  Mr.  Parker  thought  that  a  man  on  an  Elmwood  car 
answered  the  description  of  the  robber,  took  him,  and  he  proved 
to  be  the  criminal  wanted.  Another  timely  arrest  of  an  offender 
wanted  elsewhere  was  that  of  Frank  McCarty,  alias  Webster 
NichoUs,  on  November  10,  1883.  After  a  ten  years'  term  in 
prison  McCarty  had  begun  stealing  horses  again  on  an  extensive 
scale.  His  method  was  to  trade  a  stolen  horse  to  a  farmer  or 
country  resident,  and  then  bring  the  farmer's  horse  to  this  city, 
or  some  other  centre,  and  dispose  of  it.  As  the  police  had  no 
description  of  the  horse  traded  for  he  was  not  likely,  of  course, 
to  be  molested.  Mr.  Parker  captured  him,  and  the  result  was 
that  some  twenty  horses  were  restored  to  their  owners,  and 
McCarty  went  to  State  Prison  again  in  Massachusetts. 

Another  noteworthy  arrest  by  Detective  Parker  was  that  of 
Isaiah  Simmons,  also  colored,  who  committed  a  number  of  rob- 
beries in  the  Fourth  Precinct  in  1881.  The  method  of  Simmons 
was  to  work  all  day  on  a  lumber  reach,  take  his  rest  in  the  early 
part  of  the  night,  and  turn  burglar  toward  the  approach  of  the 
"wee  sma'  hours."  During  one  of  his  tours  of  robbery  he  was 
seen  by  two  young  women,  whose  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
outcries  of  persons  whose  houses  had  been  invaded.  From  their 
description  Mr.  Parker  arrested  Simmons.  The  negro  denied 
his  guilt,  and,  at  first  search,  nothing  was  found  in  kis  house. 
On  the  second  visit  Mr.  Parker  plunged  his  hand  into  a  hole  in 
the  ceiling.  His  hand  encountered  a  rope.  A  tug  at  the  rope 
brought  forth  a  bag,  and  the  bag  contained  a  number  of  stolen 
valuables.  Simmons  received  a  sentence  of  fifteen  years  in  State 
Prison. 

An  excellent  public  service  performed  by  Detective  Parker, 
and  one  which  respectable  newspapers  may  especially  appreciate, 
was  in  bringing  to  exposure,  if  not  to  justice,  a  wealthy  scoundrel 
who  abused  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  advertising  columns 
of  the  Providence  Journal  to  insult  a  lady  asking  through  that 


222  OUR   POLICE. 

medium  for  employment.  The  lady  in  question,  having  become 
straitened  in  circumstances  through  domestic  bereavement,  adver- 
tised for  an  engagement  as  housekeeper.  She  received  a  letter 
purporting  to  be  signed  by  a  man  named  Branch,  making  a 
proposition  from  which  her  true  womanhood  revolted.  It  was  a 
blow  all  the  more  cruel  on  account  of  her  recent  change  from 
comparative  affluence  to  dependence.  The  fact  reached  the  ears 
of  the  Journal  proprietors.  They  resolved  to  vindicate  their 
columns  in  an  exemplary  manner  against  such  abuse  in  the 
future.  Mr.  William  Danielson,  brother  of  the  late  George  W. 
Danielson,  undertook,  with  earnestness  and  determination,  to 
bring  the  guilty  party  to  the  pillory  of  public  contempt  and 
obloquy,  and  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Detective  Parker.  By 
means  of  a  decoy  letter  "Branch,"  whose  name  was  not  Branch, 
was  caught  and  arrested,  and  although,  through  a  technical  con- 
struction of  the  Federal  statute,  he  escaped  conviction,  he 
received  a  lesson  likely  to  be  remembered  by  any  and  all  who 
may  be  inclined  to  take  advantage,  for  their  own  vile  purposes,  of 
women  who  seek  through  the  newspapers  the  means  of  honorable 
self-support. 

Among  the  criminals  who  have  evaded  justice  elsewhere,  to 
come  to  grief  in  Rhode  Island,  and  for  whose  arrest  credit  is 
largely  due  to  Detective  Parker,  is  Pat.  Cody,  one  of  the  smartest 
burglars  in  the  country,  and  an  ingenious  mechanic.  Mr.  Parker 
saw  Cody  and  his  partner,  Edward  Kelley,  arrive  on  the  Wor- 
cester train.  He  recognized  them  on  sight,  and  followed  them 
to  the  hotel  at  which  they  took  lodgings.  Mr.  Parker  at  once 
reported  to  Chief  Ayer,  who  detailed  Detective  Swan  to  assist  in 
making  the  arrest.  They  proved  to  be  the  parties  who,  while 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  break  into  the  Pascoag  Bank,  had  robbed 
a  jewelry  store  at  Harrisville,  in  this  State,  and,  upon  conviction, 
they  received  sentences  of  four  years  each.  Cody  invented  a  set 
of  three  tools  for  burglarious  uses,  fine  enough  to  be  carried  in 
the  vest  pocket.  Each  tool  by  itself  would  be  looked  upon  as  an 
innocent  piece  of  mechanism,  and  as  each  is  usually  carried  by  a 
different  man  the  arrest  of  all  three  is  necessary  to  get  at  the 
set,  and  recognize  the  unlawful  object  of  the  innocent  pieces  of 


^ 


{ 


OUR    POLICE.  223 

metaJ.  Cody  was  also  an  adept  at  disguise.  When  captured  his 
face  was  ornamented  with  whiskers  and  mustache.  In  the 
station-house  he  got  hold  of  a  piece  of  looking-glass  and  shaved 
off  his  whiskers  nearly  clean. 

The  regatta  of  June  17,  1880,  gave  the  detective  officers  a 
rare  occasion  to  prove  their  ability  to  protect  the  citizens  of 
Providence  from  depredations.  Fourteen  pickpockets  were  taken 
in  charge,  including  Pete  Stuvesant,  a  pickpocket  from  boyhood 
up,  and  who  has  never  obtained  a  dollar  in  any  other  way. 
Pete's  picture  was  taken,  and  he  was  turned  loose  when  it  was 
too  late  for  him  to  ply  his  criminal  business  at  the  regatta. 
Detective  Wood,  of  Boston,  assisted  the  Providence  officers,  and 
did  good  service  in  pointing  out  offenders  known  in  that  city,  but 
80  far  unknown  on  the  Rhode  Island  side  of  the  line. 

To  recite  all  the  cases  in  which  Messrs.  Swan  and  Parker  have 
exhibited  true  detective  ingenuity  would  be  to  recite  a  large  share 
of  the  criminal  record  since  their  respective  appointments.  The 
detective  force  has  recently  been  enlarged  by  the  addition  of 
ex-Sergeant  Murray,  whose  long  and  excellent  service  at  the 
First  Station  is  the  best  evidence  of  his  efficiency. 

John  Andrew  Murray  was  born  in  this  city,  April  23,  1843, 
and  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  a  common  school  education.  When 
about  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  entered  the  real  estate,  stock  and 
insurance  office  of  the  late  Mayor,  Thomas  A.  Doyle,  where  he 
remained  several  years.  In  June,  1864,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  night  watch,  but  only  for  a  short  time,  as  he  soon  resigned 
and  went  into  the  business  of  bottling  mineral  waters.  In  1872, 
Mr.  Murray  rejoined  the  police  force  and  was  assigned  to  night 
duty  in  the  Fifth  Precinct.  After  ten  months  he  was  transferred, 
in  October,  1873,  to  the  Central  Station.  Mr.  Murray  was  as- 
signed to  patrol  Westminster  Place,  a  short  dark  lane  just  below 
Union  street  and  running  from  Westminster  to  Fulton  street. 
Thia  locality  was  then  a  rendezvous  of  the  scum  of  the  city ;  the 
habitual  resort  of  thieves,  cut- throats,  lewd  women,  and  offenders 
of  every  description.  It  was  folly  for  any  respectable  citizen  to 
attempt  to  pass  through  the  locality  after  dark,  and  the  police 
authorities  decided  to  stamp  out  the  foul  spot.     The  officers  were 


224  OUR   POLICE. 

instructed  to  be  more  vigilant,  but  hardly  a  night  passed  without 
a  serious  complaint  being  entered  against  the  place.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  affairs  when  Officer  Murray  was  assigned  to  the 
beat  on  trial.  When  he  asked  for  instructions,  Captain  Marston, 
of  the  Central  Station,  replied,  "Clean  the  dens  out!  I  don't 
care  how  you  do  it,  but  do  it."  By  promptly  arresting  all  sus- 
picious characters  who  frequented  the  locality,  Mr.  Murray  soon 
broke  up  the  nefarious  haunt.  On  the  fifth  of  September,  18T5, 
Mr.  Murray  was  transferred  to  day  duty,  at  the  Fifth  Station, 
and  traveled  the  same  beat  that  Detective  Parker  had  formerly 
patrolled.  The  beat  was  one  of  the  most  difficult  in  the  city. 
The  schooner  S.  L.  Thompson,  Captain  Herman  A.  Hull,  a 
West  Indiaman,  was  at  anchor,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1877,  at  Hopkins  and  Pomroy's  coal  wharf.  Among  the  crew 
was  a  Portuguese  seaman  named  Charles  Jacobs,  who  on  account 
of  dissolute  habits  had  been  paid  off  and  discharged  by  Captain 
Hull.  The  sailor  went,  but  returned  a  few  hours  later  in  a  rum- 
crazed  condition.  He  was  ordered  away.  He  jumped  into  the 
forecastle,  and  obtaining  a  revolver,  came  on  deck,  and  threatening 
the  officers  and  crew,  at  length  succeeded  in  driving  them  all 
ashore,  leaving  him  sole  possessor  of  the  schooner.  Captain 
Hull  went  immediately  to  the  Fifth  Station,  then  on  Richmond 
street.  Captain  Sanders  sent  a  posse  of  officers  to  recapture  the 
vessel  from  the  mutinous  sailor.  Arriving  at  the  wharf  the  po- 
lice advanced  cautiously.  Meanwhile  Officer  Murray,  happening 
to  be  on  an  adjoining  pier  and  witnessing  the  commotion,  went 
to  ascertain  the  reason.  He  slipped  quietly  aboard  the  vessel 
and  crawling  through  the  lazaret  hold,  came  upon  the  infuriated 
seaman  unawares,  while  the  latter  was  making  war  upon  the  offi- 
cers in  front.  Seizing  him  around  the  body,  Officer  Murray 
held  him  fast  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  other  policemen  suc- 
ceeded in  locking  him  up.  Officer  Murray  remained  on  his  beat 
until  May  28,  1879,  when  he  was  appointed  door-man  at  the 
Central  Station,  by  ex- Chief  Hunt.  During  the  five  years  he 
patrolled  the  river  beat  he  rescued  no  less  than  eighteen  persons 
from  drowning.  The  majority  of  these  were  young  people  who 
had  fallen  overboard  from  boats,  or  tried  to  swim. 


OUR  POLICE.  225 

While  Detective  Murray  was  day  oflScer  at  the  Fifth  Station, 
in  1878,  certain  characters  or  marks  were  found  upon  the  fences, 
sheds,  sidewalks  and  curbstones  in  the  Third  and  Fifth  Districts. 
At  first  they  did  not  attract  much  notice,  but  after  a  few  weeks 
the  marks,  which  were  made  with  blue  chalk,  became  so  numer- 
ous that  fear  and  alarm  was  felt  by  the  residents.  In  fact,  the 
whole  city  was  more  or  less  alarmed.  The  police  were  applied  to 
for  protection,  and  the  late  Chief  William  H.  Ayer  detailed  offi- 
cer Murray  to  ascertain  the  significance  of  the  signs.  These 
characters  were  as  follows : 

<  □  -f-  o  L  - 

They  were  not  all  placed  together,  but  were  in  front  of  difier- 
ent  houses,  one  sign  in  front  of  one  house,  and  another  sign  in 
front  of  another.  Mr.  Murray  saw  a  tramp  come  out  of  a  house 
and  with  a  cane  appear  to  make  marks  upon  the  curbstone. 
He  went  to  the  spot  and  found  a  square  of  blue  chalk.  Entering 
the  house,  Mr.  Murray  asked  the  lady  what  she  gave  the  tramp 
who  had  just  departed.  Being  told,  he  at  once  suspected  what 
the  mark  signified.  Following  the  man  for  several  days,  and  in- 
quiring at  the  houses.  Officer  Murray  learned  how  he  fared, 
and  what  he  received  at  each  place.  Following  his  clue  he  dis- 
covered that  the  marks  indicated  the  reception  the  tramp  met  at 
the  different  houses,  and  the  religious  and  temperate  sentiments 
of  the  inmates.  He  also  learned  that  five  tramps  who  were  visiting 
the  city  had  a  rendezvous  near  Cranston,  and  that  the  blue  marks 
were  for  their  guidance.  He  accordingly  decided  to  join  these 
men,  and  after  some  difficulty  gained  their  confidence,  remaining 
with  them  several  days.  While  with  them  he  learned  the  true 
interpretation  of  the  signs.  For  instance,  the  □  denoted  that 
the  people  in  front  of  whose  house  it  was  made  were  kind  and 
generous,  and  that  a  square  meal  could  be  obtained  there ;  the  O* 
that  the  tramp  was  ordered  away  or  threatened  with  the  police ; 
the  -y-,  that  the  people  were  religious,  and  that  sanctity  and 
purity  must  be  feigned ;  the  »,  that  the  people  preached  tem- 
perance, and  that  total  abstinence  must  be  advocated  at  that 
bouse ;  the  L>  that  there  was  a  barn  or  shed  or  other  lodging  place 


226  OUR    POLICE. 

to  be  found  on  the  premises ;  the  <  shaped  mark  indicated  the 
direction  the  tramp  took,  the  prongs;  not  the  point,  pointing  the 
way.  This  is  used  when  travelling  country  roads,  very  exten- 
sively. The  results  of  Officer  Murray's  investigation  were  pub- 
lished in  the  local  press. 

August  7, 1879,  Officer  Murray  was  promoted  to  Day  Sergeant, 
and  assigned  to  duty  at  the  Central  Station.  Soon  after  he 
assumed  the  duties  of  a  Day  Sergeant,  the  ambulance  service 
was  established.  Sergeant  Murray  having  charge  of  that  corps 
during  the  daytime.  He  spared  no  effort  to  acquire  knowledge 
of  use  to  him  in  that  important  position. 

During  his  eight  years  at  the  Central  Station,  Sergeant  Mur- 
ray frequently  did  effective  service  in  detecting  crime.  He 
rendered  notable  assistance  in  bringing  to  justice  a  party  of 
burglars,  named  Raymond  Brothers,  Hayward  and  Moore,  who 
had  robbed  extensively  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut.  All  of  them  are  now  serving  sentences  in  State 
Prison.  Since  his  appointment  as  detective,  Mr.  Murray  has 
fully  justified  the  judgment  of  the  Mayor  and  Chief  in  making 
the  selection. 


OUK   POLICE.  227 


CE AFTER    XIV. 

THE  FIRST  POLICE  PRECINCT. — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CENTRAL 
STATION. — CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  H.  CORY. — FROM  TYPE-SETTER  . 
TO  POLICEMAN. — THE  ROCCO  VOTTA  MURDER.— VALUABLE  SER- 
VICES OF  HENRY  C.  SALANDRI. — LIEUTENANT  EUGENE  STEVENS. 
— THE  CAPTURE  OF  A  WOULD-BE  ASSASSIN. — LIEUTENANT 
FREDERICK   A.    RANKIN. — ADVANTAGES   OF    HAVING  A    POLICE 

MATRON. — DUTIES    OF    A   DAY  SERGEANT   AT   THE    CENTRAL. 

SERGEANT  CONSTANT  S.  HORTON. — A  DANGEROUS  ENCOUNTER. 
— SERGEANT  JOSEPH  R.  BOSS. — ARREST  OF  A  FRAUDULENT 
VOTER. — TAKING  IN  A  PRIZE-FIGHTER. 

Leaving  Exchange  Place  and  passing  in  a  northerly  direction 
up  Canal  street,  elbowing  your  way  through  the  crowd  of  huck- 
sters gathered  in  quest  of  produce  and  garden  "sass,"  and 
climbing  over  innumerable  barrels,  crates,  and  boxes,  you  at 
length  arrive  at  a  plain,  square  brick  building,  fronting  on  Canal 
street,  and  occupying  the  space  between  Hay  market  -and  North 
Court  streets.  It  is  of  three  stories,  with  arched  windows  and 
brown-stone  casings,  with  a  main  entrance  on  Canal  street  and 
a  side-door  on  Haymarket  street.  This  is  the  police-station  of  the 
First  Precinct,  and  within  the  cells  of  this  building  many  a  noted 
criminal  has  spent  weary  hours.  Entering  the  building  by  the 
main  entrance,  the  visitor  ascends  a  flight  of  five  stairs,  and 
finds  himself  in  a  long  corridor  facing  a  barred  door,  at  the  end 
of  which  he  gains  admittance  to  the  cell-room.  At  the  right 
opens  a  door  leading  into  the  office,  while  to  the  left  is  the  guard- 
room. The  corridor  is  wide,  well  lighted,  and  finished  in  ash 
throughout.  On  the  left  side  of  the  corridor  are  eighteen  lockers 
for  the  uniforms  of  the  day  patrolmen.  Entering  the  office, 
further  admission  is  denied  by  a  heavy  black  walnut  railing, 
behind  which  are  the  desks  of  the  lieutenant  and  sergeant,  the 
police  safe  and  the  door  leading  to  the  Captain's  office.     The 


228  OUR   POLICE. 

store-room,  wherein  is  kept  all  of  the  ink,  paper,  and  sundry 
supplies  for  the  various  stations,  also  opens  from  this  room. 

The  Captain's  private  office  is  a  pleasant,  well-lighted  apart- 
ment, with  a  bright-figured  Brussels  carpet  on  the  floor,  and 
tastefully  furnished  with  a  heavy  cherry  roller-top  desk  and  office 
chairs.  It  contains  the  telephonic  and  telegraphic  apparatus,  by 
which  communication  is  had  with  the  several  police  stations, 
the  police  headquarters,  at  City  Hall,  and  with  the  State  insti- 
tutions at  Cranston.  Behind  the  Captain's  desk  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  collections  of  curiosities  with  criminal  histories 
to  be  found  in  the  police  department,  many  of  them  dating  back 
a  quarter  of  a  century  and  more.  The  collection  reposes  in  an 
elegant  heavy  black  walnut  case,  and  a  glance  at  some  of  these 
instruments  of  crime  is  enough  to  cause  the  average  man  to 
shudder.  The  stick  of  wood,  four  feet  long,  with  which  Officer 
William  Pullen  was  murdered  on  the  night  of  May  18,  1852, 
is  an  ugly  looking  afiair.  A  base-ball  bat,  hanging  in  the 
cabinet  has  a  story,  for  with  it  Eddie  Meagher  killed  another 
boy  named  Prentice  on  the  Calender  lot,  over  a  game  of  ball, 
July  21,  1876.  An  ugly-looking  club  below  it  was  used  by  Ed- 
win Cronin  in  making  a  murderous  assault  upon  Henry  Olney. 
Near  this  is  the  revolver  with  which  Hermann  Myers  committed 
suicide,  on  Broad  street.  May  27,  1883.  There  is  a  sand  bag 
with  which  John  Prentice  tried  to  assault  an  officer,  who  was 
endeavoring  to  arrest  him  for  shooting  at  a  man  in  a  saloon.  A 
curious  looking  article  is  a  gag  made  by  Dennehy,  the  murderer 
of  his  employer,  George  Favor.  Dennehy  tried  to  make  his  es- 
cape from  the  61^  prison  on  Gaspee  street,  and  intended  to  use 
this  gag  on  the  watchman.  There  is  also  a  razor  with  which 
William  H.  Queen  assaulted  Isaac  H.  Sherman,  in  a  saloon  on 
Peck  street,  making  a  terrible  wound.  A  cheap  jack-knife  is  one 
with  which  Clinton  Smith  stabbed  Frank  Thornton,  both  colored. 
Smith  received  an  eight  years'  sentence  for  the  assault.  The 
bullet  is  also  preserved  with  which  Belle  Chase  killed  herself  in 
a  house  of  assignation  on  Snow  street.  Attached  to  a  card  is  a 
small  piece  of  steel  taken  from  a  man  named  Wood,  who  was 
arrested  August  24,  1880.     Detective,  then  Sergeant,  Murray 


OUR   POLICE.  229 

took,  as  he  supposed,  everything  from  the  man  with  which  he 
could  inflict  any  injury  upon  himself.  The  desperate  fellow  tore 
open  his  shoe,  extracted  the  steel  shank,  and  grinding  it  to  an 
edge  on  the  hrick  flooring  of  his  cell,  opened  an  artery  in  his  arm. 
He  was  discovered  just  in  time  to  save  his  life,  as  it  was  supposed 
that  two  minutes  more  of  Weeding  would  have  finished  his  exist- 
ence. A  heavy  and  deadly  slung-shot,  loaded  at  both  ends,  was 
handed  over  to  the  police  by  a  man  who  had  been  employed  to 
assault  another  man  with  it.  He  weakened  at  the  last  moment 
and  gave  up  the  weapon.  A  cylindrical  piece  of  iron  came  from 
a  house  on  Atwell's  avenue.  It  struck  the  house  on  the  Fourth 
of  July,  1883,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  fired  from  a  cannon 
on  Smith's  hill.  There  is  a  set  of  dies  for  making  counterfeit 
half  dollars  taken  from  a  German  named  Lundberg  by  Detective 
Swan.  Lundberg  was  sentenced  to  ten  years,  and  died  in  prison. 
Murderous  looking  is  the  dirk-knife  taken  from  a  beggar  woman 
name  Flora  McDonald,  December  27,  1877,  and  keen-edged  the 
bowie-knife  with  which  the  Turkish  inspector  of  the  arms  being 
manufactured  by  the  Providence  Tool  Company  stabbed  his  mis- 
tress. He  then  shot  himself  and  died.  The  woman  recovered. 
Another  knife  is  the  one  with  which  the  waiter,  Frank  Besmond, 
stabbed  the  cook  of  the  Hotel  Dorrance,  December  10,  1880. 
There  is  a  small  piece  of  rope  with  which  an  unfortunate  hanged 
himself  in  a  barn  on  Travers  street,  February  24,  1877,  and 
another  fragment  of  rope  with  which  a  man  named  Michael 
Dougherty  attempted  to  hang  himself  in  the  Central  Station 
lobby,  July  18,  1881.  He  attached  one  end  of  the  rope  to  the 
stair  banisters,  put  the  noose  around  his  neck,  and  swung  ofi". 
OflScer  Murray  saved  the  man's  life.  When  he  revived  a  little, 
he  struck  at  the  officer  with  a  sickle  which  he  had  in  his  hand, 
and  afterwards  tried  to  cut  his  own  throat  with  it. 

A  piece  of  wood  is  shown  as  the  gag  used  upon  the  watchman 
of  the  Dyer  Street  Laiiid  Company's  building,  when  that  estab- 
lishment was  broken  into.  Some  bunches  of  skeleton  keys  were 
dug  up  from  a  cellar  of  a  house  on  Prairie  avenue,  once  tenanted 
by  Jim  Edgerton  and  Bob  Lucas.  There  is  also  a  set  of  burg- 
lars' tools,  left  in  Joshua  Gray's  jewelry  store,  when  his  safe  was 


230  OUR   POLICE. 

broken  open.  The  set  consists  of  sectional  jimmies,  bits,  lead- 
faced  mallet,  and  other  implements.  The  burglars,  supposed  to  be 
Porter  and  Irving,  did  not  get  away  with  their  plunder.  Another 
lot  of  tools  was  used  in  robbing  John  Armstrong's  liquor  shop, 
on  Canal  street.  Beside  the  above  there  are  many  dirks,  slung- 
shots,  knuckles,  etc.,  which  have  been  taken  at  different  times 
from  prisoners. 

It  may  be  stated  here,  that  in  the  office  of  the  Attorney-General 
are  also  many  interesting  relics  of  prominent  criminal  cases,  in- 
cluding a  model  of  the  gallows  upon  which  John  Gordon  was 
hanged,  in  1845,  for  the  murder  of  Amasa  Sprague,  and  the 
remaining  portion  of  the  rope  used  in  the  execution.  The  rope 
was  rapidly  vanishing,  many  old  Irish  women  begging  pieces 
of  it  for  charms,  and  to  preserve  what  was  left,  it  was  sent  to 
the  Attorney-General's  office.  There  is  also  the  last  cat-o'-nine- 
tails used  in  the  old  State  Prison.  An  old-fashioned  gun  is  the 
one  used  by  Moses  Grinnell  in  shooting  Charles  Thomas.  Grin- 
nell  w^as  sentenced  for  life.  Portions  of  an  iron  bedstead  and 
a  pair  of  broken  spoons  are  the  implements  with  which  Kate 
Judd,  the  Newport  incendiary,  dug  her  w^ay  through  her  cell  wall 
in  Newport  jail.  A  common  axe  is  the  weapon  with  which  Mar- 
garet Shaw  killed  her  husband,  John  Shaw,  in  April,  1877. 
Margaret  received  a  life  sentence.  A  cheap-looking  revolver  is 
labelled  as  the  pistol  with  which  Congdon  killed  Wilcox  in  War- 
wick Cove.  A  bolt  is  shown  with  which  Walter  Winsor  killed 
Amelia  Potter  at  Johnston,  June  7,  1880.  Winsor  died  in 
prison.  There  is  the  hammer  with  which  Dunmunway  assaulted 
two  fellow- convicts  at  the  Rhode  Island  State  Prison,  in  Cran- 
ston. A  long  and  heavy  file  is  the  implement  thrown  by  Fred. 
Glover  at  Donovan,  inflicting  a  wound  by  which  the  latter  died. 
Both  were  employed  at  the  Rhode  Island  Locomotive  Works. 
The  jury  disagreed  in  the  case  of  Glover,  and  he  was  discharged. 

To  return  to  the  Central  Station.  Leaving  the  office  and 
crossing  the  corridor  the  visitor  is  in  a  long,  narrow  room,  with 
a  large  desk  at  one  end.  At  the  other  end  are  two  doors 
and  a  case  containing  pistols,  clubs,  and  belts.  This  is  the 
guard-room,  where  the  relief  awaits  its  turn  for  duty.     In  the 


OUR   POLICE.  231 

case  referred  to,  the  patrolman,  as  he  comes  in  from  his  beat, 
deposits  his  weapon,  each  case  having  a  number  corresponding 
with  the  number  of  the  beat.  The  door  to  the  left  of  the  case 
leads  to  the  cell-room.  This  contains  twentj-two  cells,  one  of 
which  is  padded.  The  cells  are  arranged  in  three  rows,  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  T.  A  flight  of  stairs  leads  from  the  cell-room  to 
the  court- room  on  the  floor  above.  In  the  rear  of  the  cell-room 
is  a  small,  oblong  room  known  as  "  the  tramps'  quarters." 
Posted  conspicuously  in  several  places  are  cards  bearing  the  fol- 
lowing :  "All  lodgers  will  be  required  to  pay  for  their  lodgings 
by  work  on  the  following  morning."  The  lodging-room  is  fitted 
up  with  two  rows  of  wooden  bunks,  each  one  separated  from  the 
other  by  a  low  partition  board.  There  are  thirty-two  bunks  ia 
the  room,  which  can  accommodate  fifty  or  sixty  lodgers.  Very 
few  tramps,  however,  avail  themselves  of  these  quarters  in  the 
summer  season,  as  they  are  obliged  to  saw  and  split  wood  for  two 
hours  at  the  Charity  Wood  Yard  to  pay  for  their  lodging  and 
entitle  them  to  a  substantial  breakfast.  From  the  tramps'  quar- 
ters, the  visitor,  by  means  of  a  rear  door,  passes  into  the  carriage- 
room,  opening  upon  Haymarket  street.  Entering  this  room  and 
turning  to  the  left,  he  passes  into  the  morgue,  or  dead-house,  a 
cold,  vault-like  apartment,  with  a  marble  table  in  the  centre  for 
the  reception  of  the  corpse,  and  sheets,  medical  appliances,  etc., 
deposited  in  various  places  around. 

In  the  carriage-room  are  the  several  wagons  of  the  department, 
including  "The  Black  Maria,"  a  small  black  wagon  of  the  omni- 
bus type.  This  wagon  is  zinc-lined,  and  is  used  every  morning 
to  make  the  rounds  of  the  several  stations,  and  convey  the  pris- 
oners arrested  during  the  night  previous  to  the  Central.  Two 
ambulances,  together  with  express  wagons  and  carriages,  are  also 
kept  in  the  building.  In  the  stables  beyond  are  the  horses,  five 
in  number — two  for  the  ambulances,  one  for  the  Chief  of  Police, 
one  for  the  Deputy  Chief,  and  one  used  by  a  mounted  officer. 
Over  the  stable  is  the  grain  and  hay  loft,  and  the  harness-room 
opens  from  the  lower  room.  Returning  through  the  tramps* 
quarters  and  the  cell-room  the  visitor  is  again  in  the  main  cor- 
ridor of  the  building.     Ascending  two  flights  of  stairs  he  enters 


232  OUR    POLICE. 

the  sleeping  apartments  of  the  night  force  on  the  third  floor. 
The  apartments  of  the  janitor  and  his  wife  (the  matron)  are  also 
on  this  floor.  The  chambers  are  all  models  of  cleanliness,  and, 
as  well  as  the  architecture  will  admit,  of  convenience.  Each 
room  is  nicely  furnished  with  single  beds,  and  every  officer  has  a 
locker  for  his  clothing.  There  are  eighteen  beds  on  this  floor. 
The  night  lieutenant  and  night  sergeant  also  have  apartments 
here.  The  janitor's  apartments  have  all  of  the  appointments  of 
a  small  tenement  house,  comprising  a  kitchen,  sitting-room,  store- 
room, and  chambers.  A  large  well-arranged  bath-room  and 
water-closet  on  this  floor  furnish  sanitary  accommodations. 

Descending  to  the  second  floor,  and  turning  to  the  left  is  an- 
other, smaller  bath-room,  next  to  which  is  the  Captain's  night- 
room.  Next  to  this  and  directly  over  the  main  entrance  is  the 
station-library,  where  a  choice  supply  of  bound  volumes  and 
many  pamphlets  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  men.  Adjoining  the 
library  is  the  smoking-room,  across  from  which  is  a  chamber 
containing  one  bed,  for  cases  of  exigency.  In  the  Court-room 
the  sessions  of  the  Police  and  Sixth  District  Courts  are  held. 
Here  prisoners  are  arraigned  every  morning,  except  Sundays,  at 
9  o'clock,  with  trial  days  every  Tuesday  and  Friday.  Stephen 
A.  Cooke,  Jr.,  is  Justice  of  the  District  Court.  The  sessions  of 
the  Police  Court  are  held  daily  at  8  o'clock,  A.  M. 

The  Commander  of  the  Central  Station  is  Captain  William  H. 
Cory.  Descended  from  the  old  Rhode  Island  family  of  that 
name,  Captain  Cory  was  born  in  Providence  in  1831,  and  has 
been  in  Providence  all  his  life.  Learning  the  trade  of  a  printer 
in  the  old  Journal  job  office,  he  toiled  faithfully  at  the  case  until 
October  13,  1866,  when  he  left  the  typesetter's  stick  to  wield  a 
club,  a^  member  of  the  police  force.  From  patrolman  he  was 
promoted  to  roundsman,  and,  in  January,  1875,  to  sergeant. 
September  13,  1877,  Mr.  Cory  was  elevated  to  a  captaincy,  and 
assigned  to  the  Second  District.  Always  trustworthy,  although 
not  demonstrative,  Mr.  Cory  is  a  thoroughly  reliable  officer, 
maintaining  effective  discipline,  and  giving  satisfaction  both  to 
his  official  superiors  and  the  citizens  at  large.  He  has  ever 
displayed   a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  force,  and  was  a 


I 


WILLIAM  H.  CORY, 
Captain  of  the  First  District. 


OUR   POLICE.  235 

charter  member  and  first  President  of  the  Police  Association.  In 
the  Second,  and  afterward  the  Fourth  Precinct,  he  proved  his 
ability  to  cope  with  the  lawless  element,  and  when  danger  was 
present  he  went  with  his  officers  to  meet  it.  Nor  have  his  merits 
been  unrequited.  Just  after  Captain  Cory's  transfer  from  the 
Second  to  the  Fourth  Station,  a  large  number  of  friends  from 
both  districts  called  upon  him  at  the  station  on  Knight  street, 
and  through  Captain  A.  Winship,  presented  him  with  an  envelope 
containing  ^150  in  cash. 

It  was  in  Captain  Cory's  precinct — the  Fourth — that  Achilles 
DeRobbia  was  murdered,  on  Sunday,  August  7,  1882,  by  Rocco 
Votta.  The  parties  were  Italians,  and  the  killing  the  result  of 
a  feud.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Salandri,  of  the  Journal^  was  mainly 
instrumental,  through  journalistic  tact  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
Italian  language,  in  bringing  the  offender  to  justice.  The  crime 
originated  in  a  dispute  as  to  the  character  of  a  girl  whom  De 
Robbia^  the  victim,  proposed  to  marry.  Rocco  Votta,  who 
belonged  to  the  lower  class  of  Neapolitans,  cut  DeRobbia 
several  times  with  a  razor,  inflicting  fatal  wounds.  The  mur- 
derer sought  refuge  in  the  woods,  near  the  North  Providence 
line,  and  was  tracked  there  by  Detectives  Parker  and  Swan, 
who  captured  him.  In  the  trial  of  the  case,  Mr.  Henry  L. 
Salandri  acted  as  interpreter,  receiving  the  approval  of  pros- 
ecution and  defence.  Rocco  Votta  was  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  State  Prison  for  life.  Another  case  of  special  interest 
in  Captain  Cory's  (Fourth)  Precinct  was  that  of  John  Mc- 
Carty,  a  colored  man,  who,  during  the  summer  and  spring  of 
1881,  committed  a  number  of  burglaries.  The  police  in  vain 
searched  for  the  guilty  party,  until  one  night  Detective  Parker 
saw  a  suspicious-looking  individual  sneaking  along  with  a  bag  on 
his  shoulder.  He  recognized  McCarty,  and  going  to  a  shop  near 
by,  telephoned  to  Captain  Cory  to  meet  him  at  McCarty' s  house, 
and  find  what  could  be  found.  In  searching  the  place  Mr.  Par- 
ker found  a  valise,  which  McCarty  and  his  wife  said  had  been 
bought  in  Newport  two  or  three  years  before.  The  valise  was 
taken  and  identified  by  Mr.  Edward  Clarke,  from  whose  house 
it  had  been  stolen.     When  Mr.  Parker  returned  to  arrest  Mc- 


236  OUR   POLICE. 

Carty,  that  person  had  gone.  Captain  Cory  and  Mr.  Parker 
watched  the  house  for  several  hours.  Late  in  the  night  McCarty 
returned  and  was  arrested.  On  searching  a  dark  room  full  of 
ashes,  the  officers  found  jewelry  stolen  from  Governor  Bourne,  and 
silver-ware  taken  from  the  house  of  Mr.  Henry  Marsh,  which 
McCarty  had  first  robbed  and  then  burned.  McCarty  was  sen- 
tenced to  ten  years,  and  died  in  prison. 

Lieutenant  Eugene  Stevens,  of  the  Central  Station,  was  born 
at  Pierraont,  N.  H.,  December  19, 1843,  and  until  thirteen  years 
of  age  he  attended  the  district  school.  He  then  became  a  student 
at  the  Haverhill  Academy,  from  which  he  graduated  two  years 
later.  In  April,  1859,  Mr.  Stevens  entered  the  printing  office 
of  H.  W.  Redding  at  Haverhill,  where  he  served  his  time  as  a 
printer.  The  New  Year  of  1866  found  him  in  this  city,  where 
he  was  soon  employed  in  the  machine  shop  of  Thomas  Hill. 
Mr.  Stevens  was  appointed  to  the  force  on  January  15,  1869, 
and  assigned  to  Station  Four  as  night  patrolman.  When  on 
duty  at  this  station  he  was  patrolling  the  beat  about  9.30  o'clock 
on  the  evening  of  December  24,  1869,  when  he  heard  a  pistol 
shot  in  the  vicinity  of  Broadway  and  Harkness  street.  Rushing 
to  the  spot  he  learned  that  John  S.  Paine,  who  keeps  a  shop 
in  the  above  locality,  had  been  shot  at.  Earlier  in  the  evening 
a  man  named  Richard  Bethel  came  into  the  shop  and  purchased 
some  small  articles.  When  he  entered  the  shop  he  wore  a  slouch 
hat  pulled  down  over  his  face  and  with  his  coat  collar  drawn  up 
to  meet  the  hat.  After  purchasing  his  articles  Bethel  had  some 
words  with  Mr.  Paine  relative  to  the  attachment  of  Bethel's 
wages.  Bethel  was  ordered  from  the  premises.  He  went,  vowing 
vengeance.  About  half  an  hour  later  Mr.  Paine  closed  his  store, 
fastening  the  doors  on  the  inside,  after  which  he  went  into  a  back 
entry  on  his  way  to  his  tenement  over  the  shop.  As  he  stepped 
into  the  entry  Bethel  opened  the  outside  door  and  fired  one  shot 
from  a  revolver,  and  ran  away.  The  ball  just  grazed  Mr.  Paine's 
head,  and  lodged  in  the  wall.  Officer  Stevens  was  detailed  on 
the  case.  He  first  heard  of  the  man  at  a  dance  near  Olneyville. 
Bethel  went  from  one  part  of  the  eity  to  the  other  until  about 
five  o'clock  the  following  morning,  when  the  officer  captured  him 


EUGENE  STEVENS, 
Lieutenant  of  the  First  District. 


OUR  POLICE.  239 

in  a  house  on  State  street.  At  his  trial  he  pleaded  not  guilty, 
and  the  jury  failed  to  agree.  But  on  the  second  trial  he  pleaded 
not  guilty  by  reason  of  insanity,  and  was  sent  to  the  State  Insane 
Asylum. 

The  only  time  that  OflScer  Stevens  received  injuries  while  in 
the  performance  of  his  duties  was  on  January  14,  1871,  when  he 
attempted  to  arrest  John  Sylvester.  The  prisoner  fought  savagely, 
and  succeeded  in  getting  the  officer  down  and  kicking  him.  After 
a  hard  battle  the  officer  had  the  satisfaction  of  putting  Sylvester 
behind  the  bars,  but  he  was  confined  for  several  weeks  in  con- 
sequence of  the  encounter.  In  April,  1872,  Officer  Stevens  was 
transferred  to  day  duty,  and  January  10,  1878,  was  promoted  to 
roundsman  of  the  Fourth  District.  He  was  awarded  a  Lieutenant's 
commission,  on  July  28,  1878,  with  duty  at  the  same  station, 
where  he  remained,  until  transferred  to  Station  One,  on  Janu- 
ary 9,  1887,  Lieutenant  Stevens  assumed  his  present  office  as 
Day  Lieutenant  at  the  Central  Station,  on  July  18,  1888. 

Lieutenant  Frederick  A.  Rankin,  born  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  in 
1848,  was  appointed  on  the  police  force  fifteen  years  ago  this 
month,  and  traveled  four  months  as  patrolman  from  the  Central 
Station.  He  was  then  promoted  to  roundsman  at  the  Fifth  Sta- 
tion, and  remained  there  four  years.  Under  Chief  Hunt  Mr. 
Rankin  received  a  deserved  promotion  as  Night  Sergeant  at  the 
Central,  holding  that  office  until  a  year  ago,  when  he  was  made 
Day  Sergeant,  and  last  month  promoted  to  Lieuteuant,  doing  night 
duty.  Mr.  Rankin  is  a  quiet,  but  observant  and  thoroughly 
competent  officer.  He  has  had  more  than  one  hard  brush  with 
the  lawless.  Perhaps  the  hardest  was  in  defence  of  a  helpless 
and  friendless  Chinaman  assaulted  one  Sunday  near  the  Round 
Top  Church.  He  rescued  the  almond-eyed  stranger,  but  the 
roughs  turned  their  rage  against  the  officer,  who  was  soon  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  about  two  hundred,  most  of  them  on-lookers, 
but  many  of  them  determined  upon  crushing  the  bold  policeman 
who  had  deprived  them  of  a  victim.  Mr.  Rankin  made  a  cour- 
ageous stand,  but  was  being  pounded  and  choked  from  all  sides, 
when  other  officers,  called  by  a  law-abiding  citizen,  arrived  to  his 
assistance.     Three  of  the  roughs  were  captured  and  sent  to  jail 


240  OUR   POLICE. 

for  ninety  days  for  assaulting  the  officer,  besides  having  each  to 
pay  a  fine  of  ten  dollars  and  costs  for  attacking  the  Chinaman. 
Since  that  time  the  ruffian  class  has  left  the  Chinese  alone.  Lieu- 
tenant Rankin  has  made  not  a  few  arrests  and  prevented  some 
suicides  by  keeping  a  careful  watch  on  prisoners.  He  is  a  strong 
advocate  of  the  police  matron  system,  believing,  from  his  own 
experience,  that  the  searching  of  females  by  men  is  not  only  em- 
barrassing to  the  officer,  and  offensive  to  delicacy,  but  likewise 
inefficient,  so  far  as  obtaining  the  evidence  of  crime.  Lieutenant 
Rankin  has  displayed  peculiar  shrewdness  in  measuring  the  char- 
acter and  circumstances  of  the  tramps  and  others  who  visit  the 
Central  Station,  a  valuable  qualification  in  such  an  officer,  for  the 
sergeant  in  charge  of  a  desk  is  not  merely  a  book-keeper,  l^ut 
ought  to  be  a  detective  also.  The  lieutenant  showed  this  in  the 
case  of  "  Skitch"  Donnelly,  the  burglar,  who  was  brought  into 
the  station  one  night  on  suspicion.  The  sergeant  noticed  that 
Donnelly  was  stouter  than  usual,  and  a  little  undressing  disclosed 
five  pairs  of  trousers.  The  prisoner  had  broken  into  a  clothing- 
store  on  North  Main  street. 

.  When  this  book  was  begun  Lieutenant  Rankin  was  performing 
the  duties  of  day  sergeant,  which  he  thus  described :  "  When 
brought  in  at  the  time  of  arrest  the  names  of  prisoners  are 
put  on  the  book ;  but,  if  not,  then  the  night  sergeant  gets  the 
names  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Chief  arrives  about 
seven  o'clock  and  makes  out  the  warrants,  and  then,  about  eight 
o'clock,  the  prisoners  are  taken  up  to  the  police  court  and  dis- 
posed of.  At  nine  o'clock  the  district  court  opens,  for  the  trial 
of  State  cases.  As  for  the  lodgers,  they  go  to  the  wood-yard, 
about  eight  o'clock,  and  work  until  about  half-past  ten,  when  they 
go  to  Mr.  Wightman's  for  a  breakfast  of  bread  and  coffee,  and 
are  then  allowed  to  proceed  on  their  way.  If  a  lodger  has  work 
somewhere,  which  he  might  lose  by  being  late,  we  allow  him  to 
depart  early  in  the  morning.  Nine-tenths  of  the  time,  profes- 
sional tramps  are  satisfied  with  one  visit  to  the  wood-yard.  If  a 
man  wishes  to  work  his  passage  to  New  York,  we  give  him  work 
in  the  wood-yard  for  a  week,  and  then  pay  his  fare.  The  Provi- 
dence wood-yard  discourages  tramps.    The  ambulance,  introduced 


FREDERICK   A.    RANKIJSf, 
Lieutenant  of  the  First  District 


OUR   POLICE.        '  243 

when  Mr.  Hnnt  was  Chief,  is  sent,  on  a  telephone  or  other  mes- 
eage.  It  is  intended  for  city  service  only,  the  exception  being 
an  order  of  the  Chief.  The  injured  are  taken  to  their  homes  or 
the  Rhode  Island  Hospital,  as  the  case  may  be.  In  cases  of 
delirium  tremens,  one  officer  is  employed  all  the  time  to  watch 
the  sufferer,  while  here,  but  every  precaution  cannot  prevent 
fatality,  when  the  case  has  gone  too  far.  Women  are  seldom 
brought  in  with  this  affliction,  although  one  woman  has  been  here 
three  times,  each  time  suffering  from  the  trembling  evidence  of 
alcoholic  dissipation. 

"  When  the  dead  are  brought  to  the  morgue,  in  the  rear  of  th© 
Central  Station,  we  at  once  notify  the  medical  examiner,  who 
decides  as  to  the  need  of  an  inquest.  There  is  no  exposure  of 
the  dead  in  transit.  Chief  Child  having  invented  a  method  to 
prevent  it.  The  body  is  inclosed  in  a  canvas,  oiled  and  carefully 
cleansed  after  each  use,  and  thus  morbid  curiosity  is  denied  grati- 
fication, and  the  feelings  of  the  humane  are  spared." 

Sergeant  Constant  S.  Horton,  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  Mass., 
in  the  year  1848.  He  received  his  early  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  after  which  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and 
prosecuted  that  calling  for  a  number  of  years.  He  is  a  man  of 
quiet  demeanor  and  unassuming  manner,  but  possessed  of  great 
strength  and  determined  courage.  He  was  appointed  on  the  po- 
lice force  January,  1877,  and  promoted  to  sergeant  March  19, 
1886.  August  3,  1886,  the  Yankee  notion  store  of  P.  S.  Dodge 
&  Son,  160  Westminster  street,  the  hairdressing  establishment  of 
C.  C.  Rines,  No.  89  Eddy  street,  and  the  fruit  store  of  P.  W. 
Hatch,  No.  1  Mathewson  street,  were  forcibly  entered,  and  con- 
siderable property  carried  away.  The  police  of  the  Central  Sta- 
tion kept  a  sharp  lookout  for  the  marauders,  and,  on  the  night  of 
March  9,  1886,  they  were  captured.  Thomas  F.  Ward,  10  years 
of  age,  on  the  night  in  question,  wandered  into  Exchange  place, 
barefooted,  but  otherwise  fairly  well  dressed,  with  a  portion  of 
the  stolen  goods  upon  his  person.  He  was  seen  and  arrested  by 
Sergeant  Horton  about  6.30  o'clock  in  the  evening.  John  P. 
Gilchrist,  about  12  years  of  age,  also  clad  in  stolen  raiment,  ap- 
peared in  the  same  thoroughfare  about  an  hour  later,  and  was 


244  OUR   POLICE. 

likewise  pounced  upon  by  the  Sergeant.  The  third,  and  last  cul- 
prit, was  arrested  by  Captain  Cory,  at  his  parents'  house  in  Mc- 
Donough  street.  They  all  confessed,  and  were  sent  to  the  Re- 
form School.  Colored  people  were  in  the  habit  of  holding  dances 
each  week  in  a  hall  on  Weybosset  street.  The  place  did  not  bear 
a  Queen  Victoria  reputation,  and  two  officers  were  detailed  at  the 
dances  to  keep  order.  One  night,  news  came  of  a  battle  in  pro- 
gress in  the  hall.  Sergeant  Horton  hastened  there,  and  found 
men  cursing,  and  women  shrieking,  while  razors  flashed,  and 
blood  was  flowing  freely.  The  Sergeant  found  his  way  through 
the  crowd  to  a  man  who  was  standing  upon  one  of  the  seats  flour- 
ishing an  open  razor  in  his  right  hand,  and  threatening  to  cut 
any  one  who  approached  him.  This  man's  name  was  William 
Jackson,  who  had  begun  the  row  by  claiming  to  be  escort  of  a 
white  woman,  the  latter  preferring  another  companion.  Nothing 
but  blood  would  satisfy  Jackson.  The  Sergeant  quietly  approached 
Jackson  and  demanded  the  razor. 

"You  jes'  best  keep  away.  Mister  ossifer — don't  cum  near  dis 
chile;  kase  if  you  does  youse  a  dead  man ! "  shouted  the  enraged 
negro.  But  the  Sergeant  grabbed  him  by  the  coat,  jerked  him 
off  the  seat  to  the  floor,  and  disarmed  him  in  an  instant.  With 
the  assistance  of  officer  John  Splau  the  Sergeant  quelled  the  dis- 
turbance, drove  out  the  crowd,  and  compelled  the  proprietor  to 
close  the  place ;  Jackson  and  his  razor  were  locked  up. 

In  December,  1886,  Mr.  Horton  arrested  John  Burns,  an 
employ^,  at  that  time  in  Carpenter's  Foundry,  on  Cove  street. 
For  some  days  Burns  had  been  acting  queerly,  and  on  the  day  in 
question  he  went  furiously  insane.  Word  was  sent  to  the  station, 
and  Mr.  Horton  responded.  Burns  "svas  a  strong  rugged  man, 
and  his  employers,  anticipating  trouble,  locked  him  in  a  room  by 
himself  When  the  officer  arrived,  the  door  was  opened,  and  Mr. 
Horton  entered  the  room.  Burns  was  pacing  rapidly  back  and 
forth,  muttering  to  himself,  and  armed  with  two  heavy  iron 
weights,  one  in  each  hand.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  Mr. 
Horton  sprang  upon  Burns  and  seized  the  weights.  It  was  only 
after  a  desperate  struggle  that  the  Sergeant  conquered  the 
insane  man,  Mr.  Horton  receiving  an  ugly  gash  in  the  back  of 


CONSTANT   S.    HOETON, 
Sergeant  of  the  First  District. 


OUR   POLICE.  247 

his  left  hand.  He  got  along  with  his  prisoner  all  right  until 
they  reached  the  Cove  street  railroad  crossing,  when  Burns 
became  furious  again,  and  declared  with  a  fierce  oath  that  he 
would  not  proceed  another  step ;  but  Mr.  Horton  subdued  him 
as  before,  and  locked  him  up  at  the  Central  Station.  Burns  was 
placed  in  the  Butler  Asylum. 

In  the  summer  of  1886  Mr.  Horton  had  a  dangerous  en- 
counter with  a  colored  man.  The  Day  Star  had  been  on  a 
moonlight  excursion,  and  a  negro  on  board  insisted  on  fighting 
with  other  passengers.  The  Sergeant  took  him  in  charge  on  the 
arrival  of  the  steamer.  On  Canal  street  the  fellow  drew  a  razor 
on  the  Sergeant,  with  his  left  hand.  The  sergeant  was  apprised 
of  this,  by  a  little  colored  bootblack,  who  had  followed  from  Dyer 
street.     The  boy  cried : 

"  Look  out  dar,  Serg !  Look  out  dar !  Dat  feller  hab  got  um 
razor."  The  sergeant  turned  in  time  to  knock  the  razor  out  of 
the  prisoner's  hand  before  he  could  use  it. 

In  June,  1886,  Mr.  Horton  arrested  John  Wilson  in  Post 
Oflfice  court  for  revelling.  When  passing  along  Canal  street,  they 
encountered  Peter  Hackett  and  Redney  Carroll  fighting  on  the 
sidewalk.  The  Sergeant  reached  out  his  left  hand  and  collared 
Hackett.  Carroll  said  to  Hackett,  "  Dont  go,  Hackett — kick !" 
and  as  Hackett  followed  the  advice,  Carroll  assailed  the  officer. 
All  three  went  down  in  a  heap  on  the  street,  the  Sergeant  on  top. 
At  this  juncture  one  McSoley  ran  up  and  struck  the  Sergeant  in 
the  right  eye,  but  the  doughty  officer  clung  to  Hackett  and 
Wilson,  and  officer  John  P.  Howes,  hearing  the  fracas,  ran  to  the 
sergeant's  assistance,  and  they  were  all  taken  in.  McSoley,  for 
obstructing  an  officer  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  served  ten 
months  in  jail,  and  the  others  were  duly  punished. 

Sergeant  Joseph  R.  Boss  was  born  in  North  Providence,  R.  L, 
in  the  year  1849.  He  attended  the  public  schools  until  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  when  he  was  taught  the  trade  of  a  stone-mason. 
He  worked  his  way  up  to  the  position  of  foreman.  Mr.  Boss 
was  appointed  a  patrolman  February  3,  1875,  and  promoted  to 
Sergeant  August,  2,  1888.  He  was  assigned  to  do  duty  at  the 
Second  Police  Station,  on  Chalkstone  -avenue.     A  notable  arrest 


248  OUR   POLICE. 

by  Mr.  Boss  on  November  7,  1876,  was  that  of  John  McDonald, 
for  fraudulent  voting.  McDonald  had  been  noticed  by  Mr.  Boss 
hanging  around  the  polling  place  for  some  time.  The  officer  saw 
him  cast  a  ballot  in  his  own  name,  and  later  on  march  up  to  the 
ballot-box,  and  vote  on  John  or  Jack  Smith's  name.  Mr.  Boss 
called  the  attention  of  Detective  Swan  to  the  matter.  Whil3 
they  were  talking,  McDonald  went  out.  Boss  immediately  fol- 
lowed and  arrested  him.  He  was  turned  over  to  the  United 
States  authorities,  convicted  of  illegal  voting,  and  duly  sentenced. 
Mr.  Boss  has  had  several  severe  encounters  with  refractory  pris- 
oners, and  with  obstinate  revellers,  in  all  cases  bringing  the 
offenders  to  task.  One  of  these  incidents  involved  an  encounter 
with  a  pugilist  of  more  than  local  notoriety.  It  was  in  August, 
1876,  that  Mr.  Boss  arrested  John  O'Brien,  who  was  engaged 
in  a  fight  with  some  circus  men.  O'Brien  turned  ferociously  on 
the  officer,  and  but  for  the  arrival  of  Sergeant  (now  Detective) 
John  A.  Murray,  would  probably  have  killed  him.  O'Brien 
had  the  officer  down  and  was  reaching  for  a  large  stone,  with 
which  to  beat  out  his  brains,  when  Mr.  Murray  interfered. 
O'Brien  was  lodged  in  the  station  house.  In  October,  1880,  Mr. 
Boss  arrested  Hugh  Falvey,  a  denizen  of  Federal  hill,  and  an 
imitator,  at  some  distance,  of  John  L.  Sftllivan.  Falvey's  ad- 
mirers shouted  to  him  "not  to  go."  Hugh  thereupon  resisted. 
In  the  struggle  officer  Boss  was  dragged  to  the  ground,  on  top, 
however,  and  was  kicked  in  the  back  by  the  pugilist's  sympathi- 
zers. Mr.  Boss  succeeded  in  arresting  one  of  his  assailants. 
The  others  were  subsequently  arrested,  and  all  of  them  convicted 
of  assault  on  an  officer.  Mr.  Boss  looks  just  as  capable  of  hold- 
ing his  own  against  ruffianism  as  ever  he  was,  besides  having  the 
valuable  experience  of  many  years'  service  on  the  police.  His 
recent  assignment  to  the  Central  Station  is  evidence  that  his 
superiors  have  full  confidence  in  his  ability  and  his  fidelity. 

Although  the  smallest  district  in  the  city,  the  Central  is  the 
most  important  in  point  of  wealth  and  amount  of  business.  Its 
outlines  are  as  follows  :  Commencing  at  the  foot  of  Power  street, 
at  Providence  river,  through  Power  to  Benefit,  to  Star,  to  North 
Main,  to  Smith,  to  Holden,  to  foot  of  Bradford  street  at  West 


JOSEPH  E.  BOSS, 
Sergeant  of  the  Second  District. 


OUR   POLICE. 


251 


Exchange,  to  Abom  street,  to  Bourn,  to  Shepherd,  to  Carpenter, 
to  Lemon,  to  Fountain,  to  Franklin,  to  High,  to  Chestnut,  to 
Friendship,  to  Orange,  to  the  Providence  river.  The  district  has 
an  area  of  0.50  square  miles,  and  contains  seventeen  miles  of 
travelled  streets. 


Note.— Sergeant  Albert  F.  Mowry  is  of  the  First  District.    (See  page  270.) 


I 


252  OUR   POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

CAPTAIN  EQAN^S  EARLY  PATRIOTISM. — ENLISTING  AT  FIFTEEN 
YEARS  OF  AGE. — PROMOTED  TO  SERGEANT  WHILE  ii^  xiIS 
TEENS. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  POLICE  FORCE. — SENT  WITH  FIVE 

OTHER      PICKED     OFFICERS     TO    WORCESTER. ASSIGNED     TO 

FEDERAL  HILL,  HE  PROVES  HIS  METAL.  —  PROMOTED  TO 
ROUNDSMAN,  THEN  TO  SERGEANT  AND  CAPTAIN. — HE  MAKES 
THE  THIRD  A  MODEL  DISTRICT. — SOME  IMPORTANT  ARRESTS. 
— A  GYMNASIUM  EQUIPPED. — CAPTAIN  EGAN  INSTRUMENTAL 
IN  ORIGINATING  THE  POLICE  BALL. — COMPLIMENTED  BY  AT- 
TORNEY-GENERAL ROGERS. — LIEUTENANT  EDWARD  O'nEIL. — 
AN  HONORABLE  ARMY  RECORD. — SEVERELY  WOUNDED  AT  FAIR 
OAKS. — NUMEROUS    IMPORTANT    ARRESTS. — THE    FREAKS    OF 

CHARLEY     SMITH. A     SADDENING     SPECTACLE. — SERGEANT 

ALBERT  F.  MOWRY. — NOTABLE  ARREST  BY  OFFICER  E.  J. 
SMITH. — THE   SECOND    STATION   DESCRIBED. 

Captain  Patrick  Egan  is  the  commander  of  the  Second  Sta- 
tion. He  is  a  handsome  and  stalwart  specimen  of  the  American  of 
Irish  ancestry,  and  proved  his  patriotism  at  an  age  when  most  of 
the  boys  of  to-day  are  ambitiously  striving  for  the  prizes  of  the 
grammar  school.  But  no  doubt  the  boys  of  to-day — or  a  good 
many  of  them — would  be  just  as  patriotic  should  occasion  again 
summon  the  republic  to  a  struggle  for  honor  or  for  existence. 
Captain  Egan  is  a  native  of  Providence,  and  when  the  civil  war 
began  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old.  The  enthusiasm  which 
prompted  the  wealthy  to  leave  their  East  Side  mansions,  and  the 
artisan  to  bid  farewell,  perhaps  forever,  to  his  humble  cottage, 
was  shared  by  the  future  Captain  of  Police.  Like  many  another 
Rhode  Islander  in  his  teens,  he  enlisted,  and  if  he  did  not  tell 
his  exact  age  to  the  recruiting  officer,  the  recording  angel  was 
doubtless  too  busy  about  that  time  to  make  a  note  of  that  particu- 
lar departure  from  grace.  Young  Egan  joined  the  Third  Rhode 
Island  Volunteers,  August  22,  1861.     In  September  the  regi- 


'^m 


OUR   POLICE.  253 


ment  was  ordered  to  Fort  Hamilton,  New  York,  where  they  were 
drilled  as  heavy  artillery,  with  the  exception  of  Company  C,  of 
which  Captain  Egan  was  a  member.  This  company  was  drilled 
as  a  light  battery,  and  afterwards  known  as  Bray  ton's  Rhode  Is- 
land Battery.  In  November  the  company  sailed  from  Fortress 
Monroe  to  Port  Royal.  The  history  of  Brayton's  Light  Bat- 
tery we  have  not  space  to  relate  in  these  pages.  The  battery 
shared  in  the  famous  and  sanguinary  night  attack  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter, and  took  an  honorable  part  in  the  principal  engagements  in 
South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida.  Captain  Egan  discharged 
his  duties  so  faithfully  that,  notwithstanding  his  youth,  he  was 
promoted  to  sergeant,  and,  while  sergeant,  his  horse  was  shot 
from  under  him  in  the  battle  of  Olustee,  Florida,  February  20, 
1864.  In  March  of  the  same  year  Bray  ton's  Battery  was  ordered 
to  Virginia,  and  served,  first  under  General  Butler,  in  his  attack 
on  Fort  Darling,  and  afterward  in  many  memorable  events  of  the 
siege  of  Petersburg.  Captain  Egan  was  honorably  discharged 
in  September,  1864.  He  returned  to  Providence,  and  became 
connected  with  the  Lamp  Department,  remaining  with  the  depart- 
ment three  years  and  six  months.  Mayor  Doyle  knew  Captain 
Egan,  and  thought  he  was  the  very  man  he  wanted  for  a  police- 
man, and,  at  the  request  of  the  Mayor,  Mr.  Egan  consented  to 
join  the  force,  then  thoroughly  re-organized.  Mr.  Egan  began 
his  service  with  the  police  November  9,  1868.  He  was  assigned 
to  duty  at  the  Central  Station.  His  first  associate  on  the  patrol 
was  the  present  Chief,  Benjamin  H.  Child. 

Captain  Egan  was  afterward  transferred  to  the  Fifth  District, 
and  from  thence  to  the  Fourth.  In  July,  1870,  the  captain  was 
selected,  with  five  other  picked  officers,  to  go  to  Worcester,  Mass., 
and  do  detective  duty.  The  National  Regatta  on  Lake  Quinsi- 
gamond  was  the  occasion  of  a  gathering  of  criminals  and  doubtful 
characters  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  the  local  force  was 
insufficient  to  deal  with  them.  The  Providence  officers  did  their 
business  so  thoroughly  during  a  stay  of  three  days  that  they  were 
honored  with  the  hearty  thanks  and  commendation  of  the  Mayor 
of  Worcester.  Mr.  Egan,  on  his  return  from  this  journey,  was 
assigned  to  day  duty  on  Federal  Hill.     This  locality,  including, 


254  OUR   POLICE. 

as  it  does,  many  respectable  residents,  has  been  cursed  in  the 
past  with  a  rough  element  whose  deeds  have  given  it  an  unfavor- 
able notoriety.  Chief  John  M.  Knowles  thought  Mr.  Egan  too 
young  an  officer  to  deal  with  the  desperadoes  of  that  part  of  the 
city.  But  Mayor  Doyle  had  a  different  opinion.  He  had  faith 
in  the  pluck,  nerve,  and  grit  of  patrolman  Egan.  For  four  years 
Captain  Egan  patrolled  Federal  Hill.  He  had  many  encounters 
with  the  rougher  sort,  but  in  none  did  he  come  off  second  best. 
His  hardest  struggle  was  with  the  notorious  "Pete"  Hackett, 
who  has  spent  much  of  his  life  behind  prison  gratings. 

Captain  Egan  subdued  his  man,  but  received  injuries  which 
necessitated  confinement  to  the  house  for  a  number  of  days. 
Captain  Egan's  services  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the  citi- 
zens he  protected.  On  April  29,  1873,  he  was  called  into  the 
office  of  Paine  &  Sackett's  Mill,  on  Eagle  street,  and,  in  presence 
of  a  large  gathering  of  reputable  citizens,  he  was  presented 
with  a  handsome  gold  watch,  chain,  and  charm,  appropriately 
inscribed,  and  a  morocco  pocket-book,  containing  fifty  dollars  in 
money.  The  inscription  read :  "  Presented  to  officer  P.  Egan, 
by  his  friends  of  the  Seventh  Ward,  April  29th,  1873."  Mr. 
Egan  was  promoted  to  roundsman  June  6,  1874,  and  assigned  to 
the  Sixth  Station,  in  Olneyville,  January  7,  1875,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Sergeant  in  full  charge  of  the  Sixth  Station.  Captain 
Egan  filled  that  position  until  December  5,  1875,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Third  District  as  acting  captain.  On  April 
13,  1876,  he  was  nominated  by  the  late  Mayor  Doyle  Captain  of 
the  Third  District,  and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  confirmed  the  appointment.  The  oath  of  office  was  admin- 
istered by  his  Honor  the  Mayor,  who  addressed  Captain  Egan  as 
follows:  "I  wish  to  say  to  you,  that  the  manner  in  which  you 
have  performed  your  duties  during  the  time  you  have  held  your 
position  has  been  satisfactory  to  your  superior  officers  and  also 
to  myself,  and  I  am  very  happy  that  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
have  consented  to  your  appointment,  which  I  believe  has  been 
well  earned.  I  trust  you  will  continue  the  faithful  performance 
of  your  duty  in  the  position  for  which  you  are  so  well  fitted." 
All  the  captains  were  present  and  offered  their  congratulations. 


PATRICK  EGAN, 
Captain  of  the  Second  District. 


p 


OUK   POLICE.  257 


Captain  Egan  remained  Captain  of  the  Third  District  for 
twelve  years,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  better  class  of  citi- 
zens, and  the  terror  of  evil  doers.  The  district  at  this  time  con- 
tained a  number  of  disreputable  houses,  notorious  among  which 
were  the  Furnace  House,  House  of  Blazes,  the  "Opera  House," 
a  number  of  resorts  in  Chicken-foot  alley,  and  the  now  model 
Brook  street  District,  then  known  as  Corky  Hill  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  Thanks  to  persistent  efforts  and  strict  attention  to 
duty.  Captain  Egan  had  the  satisfaction  of  having  the  Third 
acknowledged  to  be  a  model  district  of  the  city.  The  district 
includes  much  of  the  wealth  and  culture  of  Providence.  Among 
its  prominent  features  are  Brown  University,  the  Providence 
Athenaeum,  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society's  Cabinet,  and  the 
State  Normal  School.  Among  its  residents  have  been  numbered 
many  great  men  of  the  past,  and  those  now  living  include  Gov- 
ernor Royal  C.  Taft,  the  President  and  Professors  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, and  many  of  the  descendants  of  old  and  wealthy  families, 
including  the  famous  house  of  Brown  k  Ives,  with  whose  names 
the  history  of  Providence  is  inseparably  connected.  On  the 
harbor  front  of  the  district  are  the  landing  places  of  the  Fall 
River,  Providence  and  New  York,  Providence  and  Philadelphia, 
Providence  and  Baltimore,  and  other  steamship  lines,  and  the 
terminus  of  the  southern  division  of  the  Old  Colony  Railroad. 
This  important  district  was  thoroughly  policed  under  Captain 
Egan,  and  the  lawless  element  curbed  with  a  sternness  as  whole- 
some as  it  was  necessary. 

Captain  Egan  has  made  many  important  arrests.  May  3, 1877, 
he  went  to  Cedar  Grove  and  arrested  Richard  Dailey  and  Patrick 
Felley,  suspected  of  stealing  a  pocket-book.  Their  description 
tallied  so  accurately  with  that  of  parties  wanted  in  New  York 
for  robbing  a  Cuban  paymaster,  who  was  knocked  down  and 
plundered  of  twelve  hundred  dollars,  that  the  New  York  authori- 
ties were  communicated  with,  and  the  men  proving  to  be  the 
parties  wanted  were  turned  over  to  the  New  York  police.  Both 
men  were  flashily  dressed,  carried  a  considerable  amount  of 
money,  and  were  armed.  Another  important  arrest,  in  connec- 
tion with  Detective  Parker,  was  that  of  George  {alias  Pete)  Sher- 


258  OUR   POLICE. 

wood  and  Henry  Williams,  both  colored,  and  French  Charley 
(white),  who  stole  cotton  valued  at  $800  from  the  N.  Y.  &  N.  E. 
Railroad  freight  house,  and  wool  valued  at  $200  from  the  Provi- 
dence &  Worcester  Railroad.  Sherwood  and  Williams  were  sent 
to  State  Prison,  and  French  Charley  loft  his  bondsman  to  settle. 
The  Captain  also  arrested  on  South  Main  street  the  notorious 
thief,  Charley  Colwell,  for  breaking  and  entering  in  Pawtucket. 
Colwell  had  in  his  possession  a  lot  of  painters'  supplies  stolen  by 
him.  On  March  30,  1886,  Captain  Egan  arrested  Edward 
Flynn  and  Henry  Smith,  who  were  passing  counterfeit  silver 
dollars.  They  were  taken  in  a  saloon  on  South  Main  street  by 
Captain  Egan  and  officer  Joshua  A.  Nickerson.  They  had  a  large 
quantity  of  the  spurious  dollars  in  their  possession.  They  tried 
hard  to  escape,  but  were  jailed,  and,  upon  conviction,  sentenced 
to  three  years  and  six  months  in  State  Prison.  Thomas  Curran, 
a  horse  thief,  was  arrested  by  Captain  Egan,  February  20,  1887. 
He  had  a  horse  and  buggy  in  his  possession  which  he  had  stolen 
from  Dr.  O'Keefe,  on  Sutton  street.  On  searching  the  prisoner 
at  the  Station  the  Captain  found  a  slip  from  a  newspaper  which 
gave  an  account  of  one  Thomas  Curran,  who  was  arrested  in 
Cheyenne  City,  Wyoming,  after  a  desperate  struggle,  in  which 
he  was  riddled  with  pistol  bullets  by  his  captors.  On  trial  Cur- 
ran was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  ten  years  imprisonment. 
When  asked  about  this  clipping  by  Chief  Child,  Curran  denied 
he  was  the  man.  The  Chief  did  not  believe  the  denial,  and 
ordered  the  man  to  be  stripped,  when  the  tell-tale  marks  of  bul- 
lets were  plainly  visible  on  Curran's  body;  four  or  five  other 
scars  were  also  found.  Curran  had  committed  several  depreda- 
tions in  the  northern  part  of  this  State. 

The  Third  Station,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of  Captain  Egan  and 
the  officers  of  his  former  command,  cordially  reinforced  by  the 
generosity  of  citizens,  has  an  excellently  equipped  gymnasium,  and 
a  creditable  library  of  about  twelve  hundred  volumes.  Captain 
Egan  was  President  of  the  Providence  Police  Association  from 
January  1,  1885,  to  January,  1888.  During  that  period  the 
relief  fund  was  increased  from  $12,000  to  $21,000.  The  Captain 
was  also  instrumental  in  originating  the  Police  Ball,  which  netted 


OUR  POLICE.  259 

the  Association,  during  the  Captain's  term,  the  sum  of  $11,000. 
To  the  great  disappointment  of  the  members  of  the  Association, 
the  Captain  declined  a  re-election,  but  he  continues  to  prove  his 
deep  interest  in  its  welfare  and  progress. 

In  the  general  changes  made  in  the  Police  Department,  about 
the  beginning  of  February,  Captain  Egan  was  transferred  from 
the  Third  to  the  Second  District.  The  announcement  of  the 
change  was  received  with  sincere  regret  by  the  citizens  with  whom 
he  had  so  long  been  associated,  and  a  large  number  of  the  leading 
residents  determined  to  give  substantial  proof  of  their  regard  and 
esteem.  On  May  21,  1888,  many  distinguished  residents  assem- 
bled at  the  Captain's  home  on  Transit  street,  and  presented  him 
with  a  life-size  oil  portrait  of  himself  in  full  uniform.  General 
Horatio  Rogers,  now  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  spoke  as 
follows  : 

"Captain  Egan: — This  assemblage  of  residents,  or  those  doing 
business  in  the  old  Third  District,  has  gathered  here  to  pay  you 
honor.  A  common  purpose  has  brought  us  together,  and  we 
represent  many  and  varied  interests  and  pursuits.  Here  is  a 
professor  from  the  University  that  crowns  the  hill.  Here  are 
high  dignitaries  of  State  and  public  functionaries  of  the  City. 
Here  is  the  representative  of  the  largest  line  of  steamers  that 
plies  to  our  port.  Here  are  leaders  in  great  industrial  enter- 
prises that  have  helped  build  up  our  community.  Here,  too, 
headed  by  the  Chief  and  his  Deputy,  are  some  of  your  associates 
upon  the  Police  force — a  department  of  our  municipal  govern- 
ment that  ministers  alike  to  the  pride  and  the  protection  of  our 
citizens.  We  have  come  together  here  to  attest  our  appreciation 
of  your  character,  the  deep  sense  of  obligation  we  owe  you  for 
duty  faithfully  performed  in  the  long  years  you  have  had  the 
official  care  and  protection  of  our  precinct,  and  the  unfeigned 
regret  we  entertain  at  your  transfer  to  another  sphere  of  action 
removed  from  our  immediate  midst.  Some  of  us  who  served  with 
you  in  the  Third  Rhode  Island  remember  how  you,  a  mere  boy, 
full  of  ardor  and  enthusiasm,  responded  to  the  stern  call  of  your 
country  in  her  hour  of  peril,  and  that  the  same  high  purpose  and 
keen  sense  of  duty  actuated  you  then  that  has  ever  characterized 


260  OUR   POLICE. 

you  since.  We  learned  to  trust  you  then,  and  that  trust  has 
grown  and  expanded  with  our  acquaintance.  Your  fellow-citizens 
in  this  district  have  felt  implicit  confidence  in  your  ability  to 
protect  them  and  their  property  from  evil  doers ;  and  your  quiet, 
unassuming,  but  confident  manner,  and  your  respectful  deference 
to  our  wives  and  daughters,  has  planted  in  the  minds  of  the  ladies 
the  same  confidence  in  and  respect  for  your  ability  that  has 
marked  the  sterner  sex.  The  wisdom  of  removing  from  a  district 
an  official  who  has  made  such  an  impression  for  good  as  you  have 
done,  who  has  given  such  entire  satisfaction  to  all  the  law-abiding 
citizens  therein,  is  not  quite  clear,  for  the  old  adage  is  as  true  as 
it  is  trite,  that  one  had  better  let  well  enough  alone.  With  such 
feelings  towards  you  in  their  breasts,  some  of  your  friends  have 
caused  to  be  prepared  a  testimonial  of  their  appreciation  and 
regard  more  enduring  than  mere  encomiastic  words ;  and  in  their 
behalf  I  ask  your  acceptance  of  this  portrait  of  yourself.  Its 
artistic  merit  and  intrinsic  value  speak  for  themselves,  and  require 
no  mention  of  mine.  Its  true  value  to  you,  however,  lies  in  the 
hearts  of  the  donors,  as  it  is  not  the  value  of  the  gift,  but  the 
motives  which  actuate  it,  that  invest  a  testimonial  with  its  real 
significance.  Such  was  the  appreciation  of  the  living  original  by 
these  friends,  that  their  minds  ran  to  perpetuating  the  form  and 
features  just  as  they  knew  them ;  and  you  can  look  upon  this 
picture  with  pride,  for,  apart  from  the  njanly  beauty  here  por- 
trayed, it  can  never  fail  to  be  to  you  an  enduring  expression  of 
appreciation  and  regard.  The  wife  of  your  bosom,  too,  will  view 
it  with  double  pleasure,  for  the  lineaments  she  loves  so  well  can 
never  fail  to  look  out  at  her  from  this  material  frame  with  a  kind 
of  halo  begotten  of  the  honor  and  appreciation  that  the  presence 
of  this  portraiture  must  ever  attest.  The  little  ones,  likewise, 
who  fondly  call  you  father,  can  never  behold  this  testimonial  with 
feelings  other  than  of  pride,  for  it  will  speak  to  them  of  the  esti- 
mation in  which  the  author  of  their  being  was  held  by  his  fellow- 
men. 

"  The  best  wishes  of  your  friends  of  the  old  Third  District  will 
always  follow  you  wherever  your  steps  may  tend,  and  I  trust  that 
appreciation  as  warm  and  hearty  as  that  you  have  won  among  us 
will  ever  crown  your  efi'orts  in  the  discharge  of  duty." 


OUR    POLICE.  261 

Captain  Egan,  not  having  been  informed  of  the  proposed  pre- 
sentation, was  taken  unawares,  but  acknowledged  with  much 
emotion  this  appreciation  of  the  flattering  estimate  of  his  efforts 
in  the  discHaVge  of  duty,  and  feelingly  expressed  his  thanks  for 
the  valuable  testimonial  presented. 

General  Rogers  then  said :  "  Captain,  I  but  voiced  the  general 
sentiment  in  this  district ;  I  now  propose  to  call  upon  some  dis- 
tinguished gentlemen  present  to  speak  for  themselves." 

General  Rogers  then  successively  called  on  Professor  Alonzo 
"Williams,  of  Brown  University;  Hon.  E.  D.  McGuinness,  Sec- 
retary of  State ;  Colonel  E.  H.  Rockwell,  Agent  of  the  Provi- 
dence, Norfolk  and  Baltimore  Steamship  Line ;  Alderman  Robert 
E.  Smith,  whose  extensive  coal  and  wood  yard  was  located  in  the 
Third  District;  City  Councilman  Arthur  H.  Watson,  Chief  of 
Police  Benjamin  H.  Child,  Deputy  Chief  of  Police  John  T.  Brown, 
and  several  others,  who  all  expressed  their  high  appreciation  of 
Captain  Egan's  faithful  and  efficient  service. 

Assistant  to  Captain  Egan  at  the  Second  Station  is  Lieutenant 
Edward  O'Neil,  whose  history,  unlike  that  of  the  Captain,  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  extensive  district  in  which  he  ranks 
next  to  the  commander.  Born  at  Providence,  R.  I., 'March  30, 
1843,  on  Fulton  street,  where  the  City  Hall  now  stands.  Lieu- 
tenant O'Neil  enlisted  in  the  Second  Rhode  Island  Regiment 
Volunteer  Infantry,  to  serve  for  three  years,  June  6,  1861.  He 
was  slightly  wounded  at  Slaterville,  by  a  piece  of  shell  in  the  calf 
of  the  left  leg,  May  9, 1862.  He  was  also  badly  wounded  at  Fair 
Oaks,  Va.',  June  25,  1862,  by  a  minie  ball,  which  lodged  in  his 
rio^ht  thicrh.  He  was  removed  from  the  field  of  battle  to  the 
camp,  about  three  miles  in  the  rear  of  the  battle-field,  and  the 
following  morning  was  placed  in  an  ambulance  and  taken  to 
Savage  Station.  There  he  was  put  in  a  box  car,  with  a  number 
of  other  wounded  soldiers,  and  taken  to  the  "  White  House," 
General  Lee's  farm  on  the  Pamunky  river,  and  thence  removed 
on  board  of  the  Steamer  Louisiana  to  Washington,  D.  C.  The 
Church  of  the  Ascension  on  H  street  had  been  converted  into  a 
hospital,  and  there  Mr.  O'Neil  was  placed.  Owing  to  the  ex- 
tremely warm  weather  and  close  confinement  in  the  cabin  of  the 


262  OUR   POLICE. 

steamer,  his  wound  having  received  no  attention  except  the  plac- 
ing an  old  towel  around  the  limb,  his  condition  was  very  serious. 
Putrefaction  had  begun,  accompanied  by  high  fever,  and  for  three 
weeks  Mr.  O'Neil  was  delirious.  Three  months  later,  being 
somewhat  improved,  he  was  removed  to  a  hospital  at  Baltimore, 
Md.  There  he  was  discharged  on  account  of  wounds,  December 
20,  1862,  and  two  weeks  later  started  for  his  Rhode  Island  home 
a  cripple.  When,  after  a  long  time,  he  recovered  the  use  of  his 
leg,  he  sought  and  obtained  employment  at  the  Burnside  Rifle 
Works,  now  the  Rhode  Island  Locomotive  Works.  In  a  few 
years  he  became  assistant  foreman,  and  later  foreman  in  full 
charge  of  the  blacksmith  department.  Lieutenant  O'Neil  joined 
the  police  force  November  17,  1874.  He  began  as  night  patrol- 
man at  Station  Five ;  August  25,  1875,  he  was  promoted  to  day 
patrolman  of  Station  Two;  April  21,  1877,  appointed  as  rounds- 
man of  Station  Three ;  August  7,  1879,  promoted  as  Lieutenant 
of  Station  Two ;  January  11, 1885,  he  was  transferred  to  Station 
Four ;  and  January  9,  1887,  he  was  transferred  back  to  Station 
Two,  where  he  remains. 

Lieutenant  O'Neil  has  made  a  number  of  noted  arrests. 
February  21,  1875,  he  took  Warren  Scott,  a  colored  man,  in 
Summer  street,  after  a  hard  struggle,  in  which  the  Lieutenant 
was  knocked  down  twice.  Officer  Hathaway  came  to  his  assist- 
ance, and  Scott  was  locked  up  at  the  old  Fifth  Station.  Scott, 
with  two  white  men,  had  been  stripping  teams  left  by  the  owners 
standing  on  the  street,  of  buffalo  robes  and  blankets.  The  thieves 
had  a  load  of  stolen  goods.  Two  accomplices  of  Scott,  who  es- 
caped, were  caught  the  following  day,  by  detectives  Swan  and 
Parker,  and  all  the  robes  and  blankets  recovered.  A  peculiar  case 
was  that  of  Bridget  Hickey,  arrested  for  the  larceny  of  a  valuable 
shawl  from  Maria  Foy.  The  Hickey  woman  was  not  suspected, 
but  appeared  very  anxious  to  have  another  party  arrested.  Lieu- 
tenant O'Neil  was  satisfied,  by  her  actions,  that  she  knew  more 
than  any  one  else  about  the  theft.  After  her  arrest  she  confessed, 
and  took  the  shawl  from  under  her  clothes,  where  she  had  it 
wrapped  around  her  body.     She  was  sent  to  jail  for  six  months. 

In  February,  1877,  John  O'Brien  was  arrested  by  Officer 


EDWAED  aNEIL, 
Lieutenant  of  the  Second  District. 


OUR  POLICE.  265 

O'Neil  for  larceny  of  clothing  from  a  house  on  Hedley  street. 
About  this  time  there  had  been  a  number  of  houses  entered,  and 
clothing  stolen  from  back-entries  and  attic  rooms.  About  10 
o'clock  one  forenoon,  while  officer  O'Neil  was  at  the  corner  of 
Randall  and  Charles  street,  O'Brien  passed  up  Randall  street 
with  an  empty  bag  under  his  arm.  The  officer  followed  him  and 
saw  him  enter  several  yards,  and  come  out  without  anything. 
At  last  he  went  into  a  house  on  Hedley  street  and  in  a  short  time 
he  came  out  with  his  bag  full  to  the  top.  When  O'Brien  got  on 
the  street  he  began  to  shout  "  money  for  rags."  The  officer 
seized  him  and  on  looking  into  his  bag  found  a  quantity  of  boots, 
shoes  and  clotning.  There  was  no  more  back-entry  and  attic 
thieving  for  some  time.  O'Brien  said  he  came  from  Boston, 
Mass. 

Henry  Jones,  the  notorious  colored  thief,  was  taken,  after  a 
struggle,  in  August  of  the  same  year,  for  larceny  of  a  watch.  He 
was  fined  here,  and  turned  over  to  the  Norwich  police  for  lar- 
ceny there.  This  same  Jones  assaulted  officer  Blanchard  with  a 
blackjack  on  Broad  street  and  ran  away,  but  was  captured  in  a 
short  time  by  the  police  of  Station  Four.  The  next  important 
arrest  was  that  of  Edward  Thomas,  colored,  for  breaking  and 
entering  the  grocery  shop  of  Robert  Mann  on  Chalkstone  avenue, 
and  also  the  store  of  William  Goldthwaite,  on  Smith  street. 
Lieutenant  O'Neil  captured  him  the  night  after  the  Mann  rob- 
bery, with  all  money  and  articles  he  had  stolen.  He  got  one 
year  in  jail,  and  is  now  serving  a  sentence  of  eighteen  months 
for  cutting  the  throat  of  Henry  Newport  on  Cranston  street. 
August  17,  1887,  Lieutenant  O'Neil  was  notified  that  Thomas 
had  cut  a  man,  and,  taking  officers  Nathan  M.  Russell  and 
Charles  E.  Smith,  the  Lieutenant  went  to  Clayton  street,  in 
Squaw  Hollow,  and  when,  about  an  hour  later,  Thomas  stole 
into  the  Hollow,  he  was  captured.  On  July  12,  1880,  Lieuten- 
ant O'Neil,  assisted  by  Sergeant  J.  P.  Scott,  arrested  John 
Newbert,  a  horse-thief,  better  known  as  "Boston  Jack,"  for 
breaking  and  entering  a  dwelling-house.  Jack  threatened  to 
kill  any  officer  who  should  dare  to  enter  his  house  to  arrest  him, 
and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  the  police  gained  admittance 


266  .  OUR   POLICE. 

into  the  place,  everything  being  securely  fastened.  An  entrance 
was  forced,  Jack  was  captured,  and  made  no  resistance.  He  got 
one  year  in  jail. 

Assisted  by  Sergeant  J.  P.  Scott,  Lieutenant  O'Neil,  on 
August  6,  1881,  arrested  Terence  Hannaway  and  James  Finn, 
for  breaking  into  the  grocery  store  of  Charles  M.  Baker,  on 
Branch  avenue.  Entrance  was  gained  to  this  store  by  smashing 
a  square  of  glass  in  the  cellar  window,  and  the  parties  in  break- 
ing it  cut  their  hands,  leaving  blood-marks  on  the  window.  Han- 
naway was  suspected,  and  the  following  morning  oflScer  O'Neil 
went  to  Hannaway's  -house  and  knocked  on  the  door  for  admit- 
tance. Terence  was  fast  asleep  in  the  attic.  The  Lieutenant 
looked  at  his  right  hand  and  found  a  fresh  cut.  Then  he  awoke 
Terence,  who  confessed  and  restored  the  stolen  property.  Giles 
Huntley  was  nicely  caught,  December  2,  1881,  for  the  theft  of 
choice  fowls  from  Hiram  B.  Aylsworth.  Accompanied  with 
officer  Madden,  Lieutenant  O'Niel  went  to  the  house  of  Huntley, 
at  Eagle  Park,  about  9  P.  M.,  and  found  a  lot  of  fowl  in  his 
cellar.  Huntley  was  not  at  home,  but  was  expected  in  a  short 
time.  Lieutenant  O'Neil  left  officer  Madden  at  the  house  and  went 
on  the  road  to  meet  Huntley.  The  latter  did  not  know  the  officer, 
and  when  the  Lieutenant  expressed  a  desire  to  buy  some  hens,  at 
once  conducted  him  to  his  cellar.  Huntley  got  off  with  ninety 
days.  Patrick  Cahill,  who  broke  into  the  shop  of  Samuel  C. 
Smith,  on  Smith  street,  and  Saunders'  blacksmith  shop,  on 
Charles  street,  was  tracked  and  captured,  December  4,  1881, 
through  a  trail  of  blood  from  his  hand,  cut  in  committing  the 
crime.  The  trail  led  along  street  and  railway  and  over  fences  to 
Cahill's  room,  where  the  latter  was  asleep.  Having  tracked  him. 
Lieutenant  O'Neil  called  officers  A.  W.  Nickerson  and  G.  W. 
Boss,  and  together  they  went  up-stairs  and  awoke  Cahill.  He 
fought  hard,  but  was  soon  brought  to  terms  and  taken  to  the 
Station.  The  stolen  goods  were  recovered.  He  got  six  months 
in  jail.  Michael  Conley  and  Robert  Moore,  alias  Rocky  Moore, 
were  arrested  December  29,  1881,  for  robbing  the  clothes-line 
of  Mrs.  Abby  Fisk,  on  Back  street,  and  C.  E.  Dunham,  on  North 
Main  street.     Lieutenant  O'Neil  was  notified  at  9  P.  M.,  by  Mrs. 


OUR   POLICE.  267 

Fisk,  that  her  line  was  robbed.  After  scouting  around  about 
three  hours,  the  Lieutenant  looked  into  a  basement  tenement  on 
Gaspee  street.  Through  a  crack  in  the  curtain  he  saw  a  lot  of 
clothes  piled  up  in  a  corner,  He  sent  for  Lieutenant  Dary,  at 
the  Central  Station,  it  being  in  that  district.  They  knocked  for 
admittance,  and  Conley  opened  the  door,  thinking  one  of  his 
companions  wanted  to  get  in.     The  stolen  goods  were  there. 

The  Wanskuck  Company's  store,  on  Branch  avenue,  was  broken 
into  February  11,  1883.  Lieutenant  O'Neil  was  notified  of  the 
robbery  about  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  the  clerk  of  the  store. 
He  went  out  to  the  store,  taking  ofiBcer  Madden  with  him.  It 
had  been  snowing  nearly  all  night,  and  there  was  about  twelve 
inches  of  snow  on  the  ground.  In  passing  through  Eagle  Park 
the  Lieutenant  discovered  foot  prints  of  two  persons  coming  from 
the  direction  of  the  store.  After  examining  the  premises,  the 
Lieutenant  took  up  the  trail  in  the  snow,  following  the  tracks  to 
a  house  on  Ceres  street.  He  went  into  the  house,  the  door  not 
being  locked,  and  found  a  table  with  canned  meats,  sauce,  pre- 
serves, pies  and  cakes,  and  three  men  and  two  women  just  taking 
their  places  at  the  table.  When  they  saw  the  officers  they  were 
about  to  sit  down,  but  did  not.  A  large  quantity  of  stolen  pro- 
visions was  found  in  the  house.     The  robbers  were  convicted. 

Lieutenant  O'Neil  has  been  in  some  perilous  places,  but  one  of 
the  worst  was  on  May  8,  1883.  He  was  standing  on  the  corner 
of  North  Main  and  Star  streets,  and  heard  a  pistol  shot  in  Patrick 
Prior's  saloon,  across  the  street  from  where  he  stood.  As  the 
Lieutenant  ran  into  the  saloon,  a  man  named  Jack  O'Neil  fired  two 
shots  from  a  pistol.  Then,  as  the  officer  dashed  for  him.  Jack 
O'Neil  grappled  with  another  man  named  Slavin,  who  also  had  a 
pistol  and  had  fired  one  shot.  The  Lieutenant  got  possession  of 
both  of  their  pistols.  Just  then  Jack  0 'Neil's  wife  came  in  with 
a  fire  shovel  and  a  bull -dog.  She  aimed  a  blow  at  Slavin  and 
missed  him,  striking  the  Lieutenant  severely  on  the  top  of  the 
head.  At  the  same  time  the  dog  caught  the  Lieutenant  by  the 
leg.  Officer  A.  W.  Nickerson  came  to  the  rescue,  and  together 
they  marched  the  antagonists  to  the  Central  Station.  Slavin  was 
afterward  killed  in  the  town  of  Johnston  by  his  son,  and  that 


268  OUR   POLICE. 

reminds  the  editor  of  a  quick  piece  of  reportorial  work  done  on 
that  occasion.  As  the  writer  was  passing  through  Olneyville 
square,  one  afternoon,  about  half  past  one,  Dr.  Eddy  cried  out : 
"  Do  you  want  an  item — a  man  has  just  been  killed  up  the  road." 
A  constable  had  gone  after  the  man-slayer,  and  just  then  the 
prisoner,  Slavin's  son,  was  hurried  from  a  car  to  the  Johnston 
lock-up,  close  by.  He  had  shot  his  father  dead  but  half  an  hour 
before.  The  reporter  hurried  to  the  cell-rooms,  interviewed  the 
prisoner,  got  his  story,  jumped  on  a  car,  and  twenty-five  minutes 
later — about  an  hour  after  the  commission  of  the  crime  away  out 
in  Johnston,  was  just  beginning  to  write  in  the  Journal  office. 
When  the  reporter  said  he  had  a  murder,  just  reported  about  one 
one  o'clock,  Mr.  Barney,  of  the  Journal,  could  scarcely  credit 
it.  "You  mean  one  o'clock  this  morning,"  he  rejoined.  No, 
one  o'clock  this  afternoon,"  was  the  answer,  as  the  reporter 
scribbled  away  for  that  afternoon's  Bulletin.  It  was  substantially 
"  a  scoop."  Young  Slavin,  who  had  George  J.  West  for  counsel, 
was  acquitted.  The  father  reaped  the  whirlwind  that  he  had 
sown. 

Everybody  at  the  North  End  remembers  Charley  Smith,  whose 
freaks,  a  few  years  ago,  caused  such  terror  in  that  vicinity.  That 
he  was  dangerously  insane  for  a  time  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
His  house  was  a  fort,  and  he  the  garrison,  armed  to  the  teeth. 
That  he  was  secured  without  bodily  injury  to  himself  is  highly 
creditable  to  the  police  engaged  in  his  capture,  while  it  was  also 
both  fortunate  and  creditable  that  he  was  prevented  from  harming 
others.  Lieutenant  O'Neil  had  a  prominent  share  in  the  ha<zard- 
ous  work  of  taking  Mr.  Smith  into  custody.  On  one  occasion, 
when  Officers  Sherman  and  Madden  tried  to  take  him  in  his  barn, 
a  bullet  through  Officer  Sherman's  hat  gave  notice  of  the  peril 
of  dealing  with  a  madman.  Lieutenant  O'Neil  thus  relates  how 
Smith  was  secured : 

"  On  the  night  of  July  2d  I  received  orders  to  arrest  Smith. 
I  went  out  to  Toolville  about  10  P.  M.,  and  procuring  a  ladder 
after  everything  was  still  for  the  night,  I  went  to  the  barn  and 
found  a  window  open  leading  into  the  hay-loft.  Went  in  and  got 
down  stairs  in  the  barn  and  looked  the  barn  over.     His  team 


OUR   POLICE.  269 

was  there  and  the  gun,  loaded  with  a  dozen  extra  cartridges,  in 
the  bottom  of  the  team.  I  then  opened  the  large  slide  door 
which  was  fastened  on  the  inside,  and  went  outside  leaving  the 
door  unfastened.  I  sent  to  the  Station  for  help;  Officers  J.  R. 
and  G.  W.  Boss,  J.  Mathewson  and  W.  N.  Sherman  came.  I 
took  them  into  the  barn  and  waited  patiently  for  Smith  to  come, 
knowing  the  barn  would  be  the  first  place  he  would  make  for. 
About  5  A.  M.  Smith  came  to  the  door,  and  peeked  out  of  his 
house,  which  was  across  the  yard  from  the  barn,  and  seeing  no 
one  he  started  on  the  run  for  the  barn,  unlocked  the  small  door, 
and  in  an  instant  he  was  in  the  arms  of  the  officers.  I  ex- 
amined his  coat  pocket,  found  a  Colt's  revolver  and  an  open 
knife,  which  I  took  and  then  marched  him  off  to  the  Second 
Station.  He  was  sent  to  the  Butler  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
where  he  remained  until  1886,  when  he  escaped  and  left  the 
State.  He  remained  away  for  a  few  months  and  returned  to  his 
home,  where  he  is  now,  behaving  rationally  and  peaceably." 

On  March  8,  1884,  Lieutenant  O'Neil  arrested  James  Mc- 
Kenna  for  breaking  in  the  store  of  Fergus  McOsker,  in  Cross 
street.  The  Lieutenant  was  assisted  by  Sergeant  Scott  and 
Officer  A.  F.  Grant.  They  tracked  McKenna  by  his  foot-prints 
in  the  snow.  He  got  one  year  in  jail.  He  was  a  bad  man,  having 
served  for  various  offences,  and  once  for  two  years  as  a  deserter 
from  the  U.  S.  Army.  September  13,  1885,  Lieutenant  O'Neil 
arrested  Frank  McGough,  Arthur  Hawkins,  and  David  Crowell 
for  breaking  into  Hugh  O'Donnell's  grocery  store,  163  High 
street.  The  case  involved  some  nice  detective  work.  Hawkins 
and  Crowell  were  sentenced  to  one  year  in  jail.  Assisted  by 
officers  G.  L.  Lewis  and  P.  F.  Healey,  Lieutenant  O'Neil  ar- 
rested the  notorious  Peter  Hackett,  November  10,  1886,  for 
breaking  and  entering  the  dwelling-house  of  James  Murphy,  on 
Dean  street.  Hackett  went  to  jail  for  eighteen  months,  with  his 
associate,  Skitch  Donnelly. 

A  police  officer  has  a  chance  to  see  the  seamy  side  of  life,  and 
Lieutenant  O'Neil  has  witnessed  some  sad  scenes  in  his  day. 
He  thus  relates  one  of  them  : 

"  In  the  fall  of  1881  a  family  named  Walton,  consisting  of 


270  OUR   POLICE. 

husband,  wife,  and  two  children,  a  boj  and  a  girl,  lived  in  a  base- 
ment tenement  in  Railroad  Place  off  Smith  street.  The  little 
girl,  who  was  about  seven  years  of  age,  got  on  a  low  gear  on 
Smith  street,  unknown  to  the  driver,  to  have  a  ride.  She  fell 
off,  one  of  the  wheels  passing  over  her  little  breast,  crushing  it  in 
and  killing  her  almost  instantly.  The  poor  child  was  picked  up 
and  spoke  but  three  words,  "  God  bless  me  !"  and  expired.  She 
was  taken  to  her  home ;  I  went  to  the  house.  The  child's  body 
lay  on  an  old  mattress,  which  was  all  there  was  in  the  house  to 
put  the  body  on.  I  went  out  to  procure  some  sheets  and  clothing 
to  lay  the  child  out.  At  the  convent  on  Davis  street  I  made 
known  my  errand,  and  the  good  Sisters  of  Mercy  furnished  me 
with  everything  wanted.  I  took  the  things  to  the  house,  and 
delivered  them  to  the  parents  of  the  child,  and  after  giving  them 
some  money  to  buy  something  to  eat,  I  left  the  house,  and  in 
about  three  hours  rrturned  to  the  house  again,  and  found  the 
father  and  mother  both  helplessly  drunk,  and  the  child's  body  as 
I  had  left  it.  I  aroused  some  of  the  neighbors,  and  with  their 
assistance  the  child  was  washed  and  properly  laid  out,  and  buried 
by  the  city.  This  is  one  of  the  hundreds  of  cases  brought  to 
the  notice  of  the  police  of  a  large  city,  of  which  people  revelling 
in  wealth  and  luxury  little  dream." 

Sergeant  Albert  F.  Mowry  was  appointed  a  patrolman  in  1882. 
He  is  a  native  of  Burrillville,  having  been  born  there  in  1859. 
As  a  member  of  the  police  he  has  done  faithful  and  efficient  work, 
and  his  promotion  to  sergeant  on  July  15, 1888,  was  regarded  as 
well  deserved.     He  was  assigned  to  the  First  District. 

A  noteworthy  arrest  in  the  Second  District  was  made  by  officer 
Edward  J.  Smith,  shortly  after  midnight  on  the  25th  of  April, 
this  year.  Patrolman  Smith  espied  a  man  acting  strangely  in 
close  vicinity  to  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Mann,  No.  96 
Chalkstone  avenue.  He  suspected  that  the  fellow  was  trying  to 
break  into  the  house.  Presently  the  officer  saw  the  suspicious 
individual  open  a  window  and  climb  in.  Patrolman  Russell  com- 
ing in  sight  just  then  was  summoned  by  Mr.  Smith,  and  the  two 
guarded  the  premises  until  the  *' relief"  came  out  at  1  o'clock. 
When  the  relief  appeared,  several  officers  surrounded  the  house, 


ALBEET  F.  MOWKY, 
Sergeant  of  the  First  District. 


OUR   POLICE.  278 

while  patrolman  Smith  and  Russell  knocked  on  the  door  and 
aroused  Mrs.  Mann,  who  gladly  let  them  in.  They  told  her  of 
the  presence  of  the  burglar.  Neither  Mrs.  Mann  nor  her  son 
Albert  had  been  awakened  by  the  prowler.  The  officers  soon 
discovered  him  secreted  in  the  dining-room  up-stairs.  He  was 
collared  without  a  show  of  resistance.  When  searched  at  the 
Second  Police  Station,  a  valuable  gold  watch,  which  he  had  pilfered 
from  Mr.  Mann's  vest,  was  found  in  his  possession.  He  gave  the 
name  of  Bernard  McAvenia,  and  his  age  as  27  years.  He  was 
a  "Dogtown"  ruffian.  There  was  a  dog  in  the  house  when 
McAvenia  entered  it,  but  the  wily  robber  kept  it  quiet  by  feeding 
it  with  blood  pudding,  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket  for  that 
purpose.  McAvenia  was  arraigned  in  the  District  Court  for 
burglary;  he  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  was  bound  over  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  without  bail.  He  pleaded  nolo  con-^ 
tendre  in  the  higher  court,  and  received  a  sentence  of  five  years 
in  the  State  Prison,  on  the  morning  of  March  4,  1887. 

The  Second  District  covers  an  area  of  5.81  square  miles,  and 
contains  seventy-eight  miles  of  streets.  Its  outlines  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Commencing  at  city  line  on  Smith  street  at  River  avenue, 
through  River  avenue  to  Chalkstone  avenue,  east  on  Chalkstone 
avenue  to  the  brook,  following  the  brook  to  the  Wonasquatucket 
river,  the  river  to  Holden  street,  to  Smith,  to  North  Main,  to 
Star,  to  Benefit  street,  to  Jencks,  to  Barnes,  to  Hope,  to  Lloyd 
avenue,  to  Arlington  avenue,  to  President  avenue,  to  the  See- 
konk  river,  the  river  north  to  city  line,  the  city  line  to  Smith 
street.  The  station  is  at  the  junction  of  Chalkstone  avenue 
and  Ashburton  street.  It  is  a  large,  imposing  brick  structure, 
three  stories  high,  and  approached  by  a  long  flight  of  granite 
steps.  It  was  built  in  1876.  The  front*  of  the  building  is 
ornamented  with  granite  window  caps,  and  casings  with  bands 
of  the  same  material  between  the  first  and  second  story  win- 
dows relieve  the  monotony  of  the  brick  work.  "Within  the 
structure  is  a  wide  corridor,  running  directly  to  the  guard 
room,  wherein  is  the  station  armory,  and  here  it  is  that  drills 
are  regularly  held.  From  the  guard  room  opens  a  well  fur- 
nished kitchen  and  pantry,  and  a  spare  room  used  for  drying 


274  OUR   POLICE. 

wet  clothing.  The  captain*s  private  office  is  to  the  right  of  the 
corridor,  near  the  outer  entrance,  and  to  the  left  is  the  business 
office ;  on  the  left  also  is  the  station  library,  and  directly  opposite 
is  the  stairway  leading  to  the  cell-room  below,  and  the  chambers 
above.  The  cell-room  is  in  the  basement,  and  contains  twenty 
cells,  arranged  in  parallel  rows,  with  ten  cells  in  each  row. 
Admittance  to  the  cell-room  is  gained  by  a  door  leading  directly 
from  the  street  and  also  by  the  stairway  from  above.  From  the 
cell  room  a  door  opens  to  the  well-appointed  stables,  where  five 
horses  are  kept. 

On  the  second  floor  are  the  Captain's,  Lieutenant's  and  Ser- 
geant's rooms,  ten  sleeping  rooms  for  the  night  patrolmen,  a  large 
bath  room  and  water  closet,  the  reading  room  and  smoking  room. 
Each  bed-room  contains  a  single  bed  and  is  fitted  up  with  the 
comforts  of  a  private  home.  On  the  third  floor  you  enter  at  once 
into  the  spacious  hall,  furnished  by  the  kindness  of  citizens  of  the 
district,  with  the  equipment  of  a  first-class  gymnasium ;  complete 
sets  of  dumb-bells,  Indian  clubs,  rowing  machines,  chest  weights, 
parallel  bars,  chest  bars,  horizontal  bars,  trapeze,  swinging  rings 
and  other  apparatus  well  calculated  to  develop  the  muscular 
strength  of  the  officer.  On  this  floor  are  also  five  more  sleeping 
apartments,  with  single  beds,  furnished  like  those  on  the  floor 
below,  also  a  small  bath  room.  The  ventilation  of  the  entire 
building  is  of  the  best,  great  care  and  expense  having  been  given 
to  the  sanitary  appointments.  It  is  heated  with  steam  through- 
out, and  well  lighted  by  numerous  windows. 

Note. — For  sketch  of  Sergeant  Joseph  B.  Bogs,  see  page  247. 


OUR  POLICE.  275 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CAPTAIN  COSTINE*S  SERVICE  UNDER  GENERAL  CUSTER. — ^WITH 
SHERIDAN  AS  COLOR-BEARER  IN  THE  VALLEY. — PRESENTED 
WITH  A  SWORD   BY    HIS    COMRADES.— HE    JOINS   THE    POLICE 

FORCE. MERITED    PROMOTIONS. — ARREST    AND    CONFESSION 

OF  A  WIFE-KILLER. — THE  YOUTH  WITH  THE  COVERED  BAS- 
KET.— EXCELLENT  SERVICE  IN  THE  FIFTH  DISTRICT. — TRANS- 
FERRED  TO   THE    THIRD. LIEUTENANT    GEORGE   H.    DARY. 

HE  FOILS  A  PLOT  TO  SEIZE  THE  CITY'S  LANDS. — AIDING  IN 
THE  ARREST  OF  DUNMUNWAY. — A  LATTER  DAY  SAINT  BE- 
COMES   DISORGANIZED. — SERGEANT   WILLIAM   H.  LAWRENCE. 

A  RECORD  OF  FAITHFUL  PERFORMANCE  OF  DUTY. — THE  THIRD 
STATION   AND    PRECINCT. 

Captain  Jeremiah  Costine,  is  forty-five  years  of  age  *'  a 
thoroughly  competent  officer  in  every  respect,  a  man  of  keen 
perceptions,  kindly  and  generous  disj)osition,  and,  withal,  a  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  men  and  things,  which  makes  him  a  companion 
fit  to  rank  with  the  best."  So  said  the  Providence  Journal, 
The  Captain  has  a  highly  creditable  war  record,  although  the 
scene  of  his  earlier  services  was  far  from  the  centre  of  action, 
and,  therefore,  holds  a  rather  obscure  place  in  the  story  of  the 
mighty  struggle  of  the  century.  As  a  member  of  Company  H, 
Third  United  States  Cavalry,  he  was  at  Fort  Craig,  New  Mexico, 
when  the  Confederates  struck  a  blow  at  that  territory  in  1862, 
and  tried  to  extend  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  from  Virginia  and 
the  Potomac  to  the  broad  Pacific.  In  April,  1862,  Captain 
Costine  served  at  Apache  Canon.  It  was  a  sharp  conflict, 
although  the  number  of  troops  was  but  few,  and  the  discomfited 
rebels  retreated  to  Peralto,  where  they  were  again  beaten,  and 
then  to  Santa  F^.  The  Union  troops  followed  and  drove  them 
out,  and  New  Mexico  was  saved  to  the  national  cause.  The  vic- 
torious command  marched,  in  August  of  the  same  year,  to  Fort 


276  *  OUR   POLICE. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas,  a  dreary  journey  across  what  was  then 
known  on  the  maps  as  the  "  Great  American  Desert,"  but  which 
has  since  blossomed  into  flourishing  States.  Thence  they  pro- 
ceeded to  St.  Louis,  and  then  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  arriving 
at  the  latter  city  after  its  capture  by  the  Union  forces.  Captain 
Costine,  promoted  to  Sergeant,  was  then  detached  from  the  regi- 
ment on  special  duty,  and  accompanied  the  expedition  to  Vicks- 
burg.  In  September,  1863,  Captain  Costine  was  sent  on  re- 
cruiting service,  and  remained  on  that  service  until  August, 
1864,  when  he  again  joined  the  Fifth  Cavalry,  and  was  with 
Sheridan  in  the  memorable  campaign  in  the  valley,  being  color- 
bearer  of  the  regular  brigade.  Captain  Costine  witnessed  the 
conclusion  of  the  great  national  tragedy  at  Appomattox,  and 
was  honorably  discharged  in  1865,  being  then  an  Orderly  Ser- 
geant. He  was  once  wounded  by  a  bullet  in  the  front  part  of 
the  leg,  but  not  seriously. 

It  should  be  mentioned  here,  that  during  his  service  with  the 
great  commander,  recently  deceased.  Captain  Costine  was  present 
at  the  battles  of  Winchester  and  Cedar  Creek. 

After  his  return  to  Providence,  Captain  Costine  organized 
what  is  now  known  as  Company  F,  of  the  Second  Regiment  of 
Rhode  Island  militia.  He  remained  Captain  of  the  company 
until  1873,  when  he  was  elected  Colonel  of  the  regiment.  After 
his  election  as  Colonel,  his  former  company  presented  him  with 
a  handsome  scabbard,  belt  and  sash;  also,  an  elegant  steel 
engraving  of  "  Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea,"  in  an  elaborate 
frame.  Captain  Costine  was  twice  elected  Colonel,  resigning  in 
1874.  Captain  Costine  joined  the  police  force  April  28,  1875. 
He  was  appointed  Sergeant  at  the  First  Station  July  15,  1876, 
was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  August  7,  1879,  and  made  Captain 
of  the  Fifth  Station  January  20,  1881.  Mr.  Costine  was  ap- 
pointed drill-master  of  the  force  July  26,  1877,  by  the  then  Chief 
of  Police,  John  M.  Knowles,  and  since  that  time  has  officiated 
as  Adjutant  on  the  annual  parades. 

Captain  Costine  has  made  a  number  of  important  arrests. 
One  of  the  most  important  was  of  a  man  whose  name  it  is  not 
necessary  to  give,  as  he  is  now  endeavoring  to  make  an  honest 


JEREMIAH  COSTINE, 
Captain  of  the  Third  District 


OUR  POLICE.  279- 

living.  The  Captain  was  notified  that  a  -woman  was  dead  in 
Tallinan's  lane.  The  physician  had  pronounced  the  death  to  be 
from  natural  causes.  Some  circumstances  which  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Captain  aroused  his  suspicions.  He  arrested 
the  husband,  who  confessed  the  killing,  and  Dr.  Palmer's  autopsy 
confirmed  the  confession.  As  it  was  not  a  deliberate  crime,  a 
plea  of  manslaughter  was  accepted.  While  night  patrolman  on 
Westminster  street,  the  Captain  overtook  and  captured  a  thief 
who  had  broken  into  a  shop  near  the  corner  of  Dorrance.  The 
fellow  tried  to  frighten  Mr.  Costine  with  a  revolver,  but  the 
plucky  officer  kept  up  the  chase,  and  the  fugitive  ran  into  the 
arms  of  ofiicer  Barry.  A  singular  case  was  that  of  a  youth 
named  Sweetland,  who  made  a  habit  of  going  into  houses  with 
a  covered  basket  and  stealing  clothing.  In  this  way  he  entered 
some  twenty  residences  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Districts.  He 
frequently  changed  his  attire,  so  as  to  make  identification  diffi- 
cult. His  excuses,  when  accosted,  showed  ingenuity.  A  woman 
met  him  coming  out  of  her  house  with  a  basket  of  shirts.  In 
reply  to  her  inquiry  he  said  he  had  come  from  a  laundry  with 
clothing  to  deliver  to  somebody ;  at  the  same  time  giving  a  name 
the  woman  did  not  recognize.  The  truth  was,  as  she  found  out 
too  late,  the  fellow  had  her  husband's  shirts  in  the  basket.  The 
Captain  met  a  youth  on  Public  street,  whom  he  suspected  to  be 
the  thief.  The  Captain  took  the  youth  to  the  station-house, 
found  stolen  goods  in  his  basket,  and  a  cartload  of  plunder  at  his 
residence.     Sweetland  got  two  years. 

These  are  but  two  of  numerous  instances  of  Captain  Costine's 
efficiency.  The  people  of  the  Fifth  District  had  good  reason  to 
congratulate  themselves  on  such  a  protector  of  their  peace  and 
their  property,  and  his  departure  was  the  occasion  of  deep  and 
general  regret.  His  command,  among  whom  he  had  always 
maintained  popularity  as  well  as  discipline,  gave  testimony  of 
their  esteem  in  the  handsome  portrait  which  now  adorns  the 
Captain's  room  in  the  Third  Station.  In  the  prime  of  life,  with 
the  well-earned  goodwill  both  of  citizens  and  police,  and  an  expe- 
rience that  is  as  valuable  as  it  is  meritorious,  Captain  Costine 


280  OUR   POLICE. 

ought  to  have  a  future  as  serviceable,  as  his  past  has  been  honor- 
able. 

George  H.  Dary,  Lieutenant  at  the  Third  Station  on  Wick- 
enden  street,  is  one  of  the  best-known  and  best-esteemed  officers 
in  the  department.  He  was  born  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  May  6, 
1838,  and  came  to  this  city  when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age. 
He  learned  the  cooper's  trade  at  the  Roger  Williams  Flouring 
Mills,  and  his  employers,  appreciating  his  strict  attention  to 
business  and  his  good  judgment  in  handling  men,  promoted  him 
to  foreman.  In  18T4  Mr.  Dary  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Police  Department.  Two  years  service  demonstrated  his  capacity 
for  higher  duties  than  patrolman,  and  on  July  18,  1876,  he  was 
promoted  to  roundsman,  and  assigned  to  duty  at  the  Central 
Station.  On  August  7,  1879,  he  was  made  a  Sergeant,  and  on 
January  20,  1881,  was  elevated  to  his  present  grade,  that  of 
Lieutenant.  For  many  years  Lieutenant  Dary  was  on  duty  at 
the  Central  Station  in  a  position  which  eminently  requires  calm 
judgment  and  prompt  action.  The  night  officers  at  other  stations 
were  calling  constantly  for  information,  advice,  or  instruction, 
and  Lieutenant  Dary  was  never  found  wanting.  Nor  was  he 
ever  lacking  in  the  supervisory  vigilance  required  to  protect  from 
depredation  the  vast  and  valuable  interests  of  the  District.  The 
best  evidence  that  the  Lieutenant  and  his  patrolmen  did  their 
duty  well  is,  that  there  were  so  few  robberies  during  his  service 
at  the  Central.  Lieutenant  Dary  does  his  work  in  a  quiet,  un- 
assuming way,  but  he  does  it  thoroughly. 

Among  the  earlier  cases  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  which 
brought  him  prominently  before  our  citizens,  was  the  arrest  of  a 
dangerous  horse  thief,  George  Boss,  afterward  sentenced  to  State 
Prison  for  confessed  incendiarism.  Boss  stole  a  horse  and  bug- 
gy near  Woonsocket  and  drove  to  this  city.  The  theft  was  re- 
ported to  Officer  Pollard,  of  Lincoln.  He  followed  the  man  to 
Providence  and  applied  to  the  police  authorities  for  assistance  in 
looking  up  the  culprit.  After  making  a  careful  search  the  police 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  Boss  was  not  within  the  confines  of 
the  city.     Though  the  night  was  dark  and  stormy,  Lieutenant 


GEORGE  H.  DARY, 
Lieutenant  of  the  Third  District. 


OUR    POLICE.  283 

Dary  did  not  give  up  the  chase.  They  drove  out  with  Mr.  Pol- 
lard a  mile  beyond  the  city  limits,  in  the  direction  of  Pawtucket. 
Hearing  the  noise  of  an  approaching  team  they  drew  to  one  side 
of  the  road  and  watched.  Dark  as  it  was  Lieutenant  Dary  and 
Officer  Pollard  were  able  to  identify  the  occupant  of  the^open 
carriage,  and  in  a  twinkling  the  horse  was  stopped  and  Boss  was 
handcuffed. 

Early  in  1877  the  Taunton  Copper  Works  lost  large  quanti- 
ties of  copper.  They  learned  that  some  of  it  had  been  disposed 
of  in  Fall  River,  but  the  authorities  there  were  unable  to  capture 
the  thief.  A  description  of  the  party  was  sent  to  the  Chief  of 
Police  of  this  city,  and  Lieutenant  Dary,  who  was  a  roundsman 
at  that  time,  was  put  on  the  case.  It  was  not  an  easy  one  to 
unravel,  but  he  did  it  very  effectively.  Having  obtained  a  clue 
to  the  effect  that  a  man  named  John  Gallagher  was  the  thief,  he 
shadowed  Gallagher  until  convinced  that  he  was  on  the  right 
track  and  then  he  arrested  the  man  in  a  saloon  on  Otis  street. 
Gallagher  confessed  that  he  had  been  implicated  in  the  robbery 
and  was  taken  to  the  City  of  Spindles,  tried  and  duly  convicted. 
Lieutenant  Dary's  promptness  in  emergency  was  signally  dis- 
played on  the  occasion  of  the  attempt  of  the  New  York  and  New 
England  Railroad  Company  to  seize  a  part  of  the  city  lands. 
At  half-past  one  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  July  28,  1881,  the 
Lieutenant  was  notified  that  fifty  men  were  tearing  down  the 
fence  and  laying  a  track  in  the  city  yard.  There  was  no  time 
for  consultation  with  city  officers.  The  Lieutenant  called  all 
the  men  at  his  disposal,  marched  them  to  the  city  yard,  stopped 
the  work  of  the  land-stealers,  and  then  notified  the  Chief  of 
Police.  That  he  pursued  the  proper  course,  was  shown  by  the 
action  subsequently  taken  by  Mayor  Doyle  and  the  City  Coun- 
cil, as  well  as  the  general  voice  of  the  public. 

On  the  night  of  September  11  of  the  same  year,  Lieutenant 
Dary  promptly  came  to  the  aid  of  officer  Duty  Greene,  in  the 
arrest  of  Dunmunway,  one  of  the  most  dangerous  and  desperate 
criminals  that  ever  visited  Rhode  Island.  Dunmunway  broke 
into  Paige  &  Co.'s  store,  at  the  corner  of  College  and  South  Main 
streets,  and  would  probably  have  succeeded  in  breaking  open  the 


284  OUR   POLICE. 

safe  and  rifling  it,  had  not  officer  Greene  discovered  him.  Lieu- 
tenant Dary  was  notified.  He  was  promptly  on  hand.  The  door 
was  opened,  and  Dunmunway  and  his  partner  in  crime  fled  to- 
ward the  roof.  The  Lieutenant,  followed  by  the  officers,  pursued 
them  closely,  and  in  spite  of  Dunmunway's  threat  to  kill  the  first 
man  who  approached  him,  he  was  arrested,  and  afterward  con- 
Ticted  and  sentenced.  These  instances  show  why  Lieutenant 
Dary  is  recognized  by  his  superiors  as  a  man  who  never  shrinks 
from  the  front  of  danger.  By  vigilance,  at  the  Central  Station, 
Lieutenant  Dary  saved  the  lives  of  many  would-be  suicides. 

Sergeant  William  II.  Lawrence  is  a  fine-looking,  strong, 
healthy  man,  possessed  of  sound  intelligence  and  excellent  dis- 
crimination, of  gentlemanly  deportment,  genial  and  fond  of  a  joke, 
but  never  allowing  anything  to  interfere  with  the  strict  perform- 
ance of  his  duty.  He  was  born  at  Medford,  Mass.,  in  1850, 
and  received  a  common  school  education.  Mr.  Lawrence  became 
a  member  of  the  police  force  on  October  14,  1875,  and  was 
assigned  to  night  patrol  duty  in  the  Fifth  District,  and  later  was 
transferred  to  the  same  duty  at  the  Central.  Early  in  March, 
1883,  Officer  Lawrence  discovered  that  material  used  for  caning 
chairs,  was  being  stolen  in  large  quantities  and  disposed  of  to  a 
chair  repairer  named  James  Smith,  on  Dean  street.  He  learned 
that  the  thief  was  a  lad  named  Joseph  Hanson,  16  years  of  age, 
and  that  the  firm  of  William  E.  Barrett  &  Co.  were  the  victims. 
The  officer  notified  the  firm,  and  on  examination  of  their  large 
stock  it  was  discovered  that  several  hundred  dollars'  worth  was 
missing.  At  the  same  time  it  was  ascertained  that  the  thieves 
effected  an  entrance  through  the  cellar  door  leading  from  the 
street.  Hanson  was  arrested  soon  after  this  by  Officer  Lawrence, 
just  as  he  was  leaving  the  cellar,  having  fourteen  bundles  of  stuff" 
in  his  possession.  Another  lad,  named  Edward  Gormley,  was 
implicated.  Both  lads  were  sentenced  to  the  Reform  School 
during  their  minority. 

Soon  after  his  transfer  from  the  night  to  the  day  force  Officer 
Lawrence  was  patroling  his  beat  on  Westminster  street,  when  a 
crowd  attracted  his  attention,  and,  investigating  the  cause,  he 
learned  that  a  horse  thief  had  attempted  to  drive  |iway  with  a 


WILLIAM   H.   LAWKENCE, 
Sexgeant  of  the  Third  District. 


»         t  c  « 


t       • 


•     •   '  ^'■v 


c      « 


OUR   POLICE.  287 

horse  and  wagon.  As  the  officer  approached  the  thief  ran,  pur- 
sued by  the  policeman  and  the  usual  crowd.  The  fugitive  darted 
into  an  alley  on  Mathewson  street,  scaled  a  high  fence,  and 
escaped — for  a  little  while.  Patrolman  Lawrence  returned  to 
Westminster  street,  and  after  going  up  that  thoroughfare  a  short 
distance,  found  his  man  in  a  liquor  saloon  and  arrested  him. 
About  the  first  of  February,  1 887,  Officer  Lawrence  was  notified 
that  a  party  of  young  fellows  had  attempted  to  sell  four  tubs  of 
lard  at  the  store  of  Mrs.  Armstrong,  on  Chalkstone  avenue,  but 
as  their  actions  aroused  her  suspicions  she  told  them  to  call 
again,  and  then  at  once  notified  the  officer.  A  sharp  look-out  was 
kept,  and  a  few  days  later  Officer  Lawrence  arrested  one  of  the 
gang,  named  James  Daylor,  on  Broad  street,  and  locked  him  up. 
Daylor  is  one  of  the  smartest  sneak  thieves  in  New  England,  and 
although  but  about  22  years  of  age,  has  already  served  a  number 
of  sentences  for  jobs  done  in  this  city  and  Boston. 

November  4,  1887,  Officer  Lawrence  was  promoted  from  day 
patrolman  to  night  sergeant,  and  stationed  at  the  Fifth  District, 
and  a  few  months  ago  was  transferred  to  service  at  the  Third 
Station.  Sergeant  Lawrence's  record  of  arrests  includes  the 
following  important  cases :  May  20, 1878. — Arrested  Thomas  Hig- 
gins  on  Dyer  street,  for  breaking  and  entering  wholesale  produce 
store  of  George  Hawes  &  Sons,  23  Dyer  street.  Higgins  was 
captured  in  the  store  while  in  the  act  of  robbing  the  money 
drawer. 

February  2,  1879. — Arrested  a  colored  man,  28  years  of  age, 
named  Robert  Thelbert  in  the  Central  Congregational  Church, 
while  in  the  act  of  rifling  contribution  envelopes  of  their  contents. 
When  searched  he  had  twenty-four  of  these  envelopes  in  his  pos- 
session, containing  $46.35. 

February  21,  1883. — Arrested  a  colored  man  named  James 
Tyler,  on  Westminster  street,  for  entering  the  house  of  James 
Allen  on  High  street,  and  robbing  it  of  various  articles. 

March  20,  1883. — Arrested  Santilla  De  Andrea,  an  Italian, 
17  years  of  age,  on  Orange  street,  for  an  assault  with  a  danger- 
ous weapon  upon  Edward  Gormley,  a  bootblack. 

October  20,  1884.— Arrested  William  F.  McGinley,  for  break- 


288  OUR   POLICE. 

ing  and  entering  the  undertaking  establishment  of  Thomas  Mc- 
Murrough,  on  Fenner  street,  and  robbing  the  till.  Sergeant 
Lawrence  has  also  made  numerous  arrests  for  larceny  and  shop- 
lifting. 

Although  the  district,  under  Captains  Egan  and  Costine,  has 
shown  marked  improvement,  yet  occasionally  an  officer  meets 
with  an  experience  that  reminds  of  rougher  days.  Officer  Her- 
bert C.  Blood  has  had  some  harsh  reminders  of  this  kind. 
While  he  was  attempting  to  make  an  arrest  on  Wickenden  street, 
August  26,  last  year,  one  James  Dahler  seized  the  officer's  club, 
and  beat  him  over  the  head  with  it.  Dahler  was  sentenced 
to  two  years  in  prison.  Three  years"  previously  the  same  officer 
had  his  shoulder  broken  in  making  an  arrest ;  but  he  got  his  man. 

The  Third  Station  is  part  of  a  handsome  building  at  Wicken- 
den and  Traverse  streets.  It  is  of  two  stories,  of  brick,  and 
surmounted  by  a  mansard  roof,  the  end  nearest  Traverse  street 
being  used  as  a  fire  engine  house,  while  the  other  part  is  devoted 
to  the  uses  of  the  police.  The  outside  of  the  building  is  neatly 
ornamented  by  arched  doorways  and  window  caps  of  white  gran- 
ite and  brownstone  blocks,  laid  alternately.  The  roof  of  the 
building  is  covered  with  slate  and  is  studded  by  four  double  gable 
windows.  Unlike  the  other  stations,  the  visitor  as  he*  enters  the 
Third,  is  admitted  immediately  into  the  guard-room.  The  busi- 
ness office  and  the  pistol  cabinet  are  in  this  room,  and  from  this 
central  apartment  radiate  all  the  official  rooms  of  the  station.  To 
the  left  is  the  Lieutenant's  office,  the  dining-room,  and  the  stair- 
way leading  to  the  upper  floors ;  to  the  rear  is  the  kitchen  and 
the  cell-room,  the  latter  containing  ten  cells.  The  Captain's 
room,  the  library  and  the  telephone  room  open  to  the  right  of  the 
entrance.  The  library  at  this  station  is  the  largest  in  the  depart- 
ment, containing  between  eleven  and  twelve  hundred  bound  vol- 
umes, besides  several  hundred  pamphlets.  The  library  is  extensively 
used  and  is  a  beneficial  auxiliary  to  the  station.  The  telephone 
room  is  a  small  square  room  containing  all  the  instruments  for 
telephonic  communication,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  appara- 
tus at  the  Central  Station,  is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  city. 
Electric  bells  communicate  from  the  guard  room  to  every  room  in 


OUR   POLICE.      ^  289 

the  building,  and  are  a  great  source  of  convenience  in  summon- 
ing an  officer  from  the  upper  portion  of  the  house  to  the  lower 
floor  in  case  of  necessity. 

The  second  story  is  occupied  entirely  as  sleeping  apartments, 
with  the  exception  of  one  room,  which  has  been  furnished  at  the 
expense  of  the  officers  in  an  elegant  manner,  and  is  used  as  a 
parlor.  This  room  is  handsomely  carpeted  and  has  a  nice  black 
walnut  center  table,  while  easy  chairs  are  numerous.  On  the 
walls  are  several  nicely  framed  steel  engravings.  The  Captain's 
room,  also  the  Lieutenant's  and  Sergeant's  rooms,  and  three  single 
chambers  for  the  patrolmen,  are  on  this  floor ;  also  a  large  bath- 
room. On  the  third  floor  are  eight  chambers  similar  to  those  of 
the  second  floor.  The  gymnasium  is  a  well-appointed  establish- 
ment and  is  considerably  used.  Among  the  especial  features  of 
the  gymnasium  is  the  shooting  gallery,  in  the  use  of  which  several 
of  the  officers  have  become  very  proficient. 

The  district  covers  an  area  of  1.34:  square  miles,  and  contains 
33  miles  of  streets.  The  outlines  of  the  district  are  as  follows : 
Commencing  at  the  foot  of  President  avenue  at  Seekonk  river, 
by  Seekonk  river  to  Bradford  avenue,  through  Bradford  avenue 
to  Arlington  avenue,  to  Lloyd  avenue,  to  Hope  street,  to  Barnes 
street,  to  Jencks  street,  to  Benefit  street,  to  Power  street,  to 
Providence  river,  by  Providence  river  to  Seekonk  river,  by  See- 
konk river  to  President  avenue. 


^^:^m:k^ 


290  OUR   POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  LATE  SERGEANT  SIMEON  SHERMAN. — THE  LATE  CAPTAIN 
WARNER. — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FOURTH  STATION. — CAPTAIN 
JOSEPH  MARSTON.  —  SENT  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  BOSTON  IN 
FLAMES. — EFFICIENT  SERVICE  IN  THE  BUTLER  HOSPITAL. — 
THE  INSANE  CONFEDERATE  OF  "BRISTOL  BILL." — CAPTAIN 
MARSTON  AT  THE  CENTRAL  STATION.  —  IMPORTANT  DUTIES 
DEVOLVING  ON  THE  COMMANDER  OF  THAT  PRECINCT. — IM- 
PROVEMENT IN  THE  MANNER  OP  ARRESTS.  —  LIEUTENANT 
MAGILL. — FAITHFUL  AND  FEARLESS  SERVICE  IN  THE  OLNEY- 
VILLE  DISTRICT. — A  LONG  STRUGGLE  TO  PUT  DOWN  RUFFIAN- 
ISM.— SERGEANT  FRANK  A.  MATTHEWS. — BRAVELY  RESISTING 
THE  RESCUE  OF  A  PRISONER. — OFFICER  JAMES  L.  SHERMAN. 

The  first  sergeant  of  the  Fourth  District  was  Simeon  Sher- 
man, appointed  watchman  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  November 
2,  1846,  and  afterward  second  captain  of  the  watch.  August  12, 
1864,  Mr.  Sherman  was  appointed  Sergeant  of  the  Fourth  Dis- 
trict, under  the  new  rules  of  the  Board,  making  the  day  and 
night  force  of  equal  authority.  After  a  time  he  resigned,  and 
was  subsequently  appointed  by  Mayor  Doyle  day  officer  at  the 
station,  which  position  he  held  until  his  death,  April  10,  1872. 
The  Station  for  the  Fourth  District  was  originally  situated  over 
the  engine-house  on  Summer  street,  where  it  remained  for  two 
years.  Then  the  room  was  needed  for  other  purposes,  and  the 
watch-house  was  removed  to  Briggs'  shop,  on  High  street,  for  a 
few  months,  until  accommodations  were  completed  in  the  engine- 
house  on  Knight  street,  at  the  present  location.  The  late  Captain 
James  Henry  Warner,  who  presided  for  many  years  over  this 
district,  merits  at  least  passing  mention  in  connection  with  it. 
To  his  energies  the  improvements  effected  in  the  station,  pre- 
vious to  the  fire  of  1875,  were  largely  due,  and  as  a  faithful, 
conscientious,  painstaking  officer  his  name  will  ever  be  remem- 


JOSEPH  MAKSTON, 
Captain  of  the  Fourth  District. 


OUR   POLICE.  293 

bered  in  the  department.  Captain,  then  Sergeant,  Warner,  had 
Bome  interesting  experiences  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  charge 
over  the  Knight  Street  Station.  The  police  force  was  not  yet 
thoroughly  organized,  and  discipline  was  lax.  This  Mr.  Warner 
corrected,  not  by  harshness,  but  by  good  example  and  vigilance. 
He  communicated  to  the  men  the  spirit  which  actuated  himself, 
and  ably  seconded  Mayor  Doyle  in  his  efforts  to  make  the  depart- 
ment what  it  is — a  police  machine  as  complete  and  intelligent  as 
any  in  the  country. 

The  partial  destruction  of  the  station  by  fire  in  1875  was  not 
an  unmixed  evil,  giving  opportunity,  as  it  did,  for  reconstruction 
on  a  pattern  more  in  accord  with  modern  improvement.  The 
Fourth  Station  cannot  be  compared  to  the  model  Fifth,  but  it  is 
a  comfortable  and  presentable  abode  for  the  city  guardians,  as 
well  as  providing  for  the  secure  and  commodious  detention  of 
prisoners.  It  is  a  three-story,  flat-roof  building,  of  brick,  with  rough 
granite  trimmings.  This  building  was  erected  in  1875.  The 
main  door  opens  directly  into  the  spacious  guard-room,  wherein 
are  two  large  black-walnut  cases  with  glass  doors.  One  case  is 
the  receptacle  for  the  officers'  uniform,  belts  and  clubs  and  pistols, 
and  the  other  is  fitted  up  as  lockers  for  the  clothing  of  the  day 
force.  The  Captain's  office  opens  from  the  guard-room  on  the 
right,  while  on  the  left  is  the  Lieutenant's  office.  To  the  rear  of 
the  Captain's  room  is  the  station  library,  with  its  large  collection 
of  bound  volumes.  The  kitchen  and  drying-room  also  open 
from  this  apartment.  Directly  opposite  the  main  entrance  to  the 
building  is  the  door  leading  to  the  cell-room,  wherein  are  ten 
cells.  From  the  cell-room  a  door  opens  into  the  stable,  where 
two  horses  are  always  kept.  On  the  second  floor  are  situated 
the  Captain's,  Lieutenant's,  and  Sergeant's  rooms,  three  apart- 
ments with  two  beds  each,  and  ten  with  only  one  bed,  the  smoking 
room,  four  spare  bed-rooms,  bath  and  toilet  apartments,  the  linen 
and  record  closets,  etc.  The  third  floor  is  fitted  up  entirely  as  a 
drill-room  and  gymnasium,  and  is  used  regularly  by  the  officers. 
An  attractive  flower  garden  affords  both  pleasure  and  recreation 
to  the  inmates  of  the  station.  The  janitor  of  the  station  is  Mr. 
James  E.  Johnson,  who  served  in  the  late  war  as  a  member  of 


294  OUR   POLICE. 

28th  U.  S.  (colored)  Infantry,  and  has  cared  fcr  the  Knight 
Street  Station  eighteen  years. 

When  Providence  hastened  to  the  relief  of  Boston  in  flames, 
Mayor  Doyle  could  find  no  man  hotter  fitted  to  command  the 
company  of  police  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  burning  city  than  Cap- 
tain (then  Sergeant)  Joseph  Marston.  Day  and  night  the  Provi- 
dence policemen  guarded  with  faithful  vigilance  the  valuable 
salvage  rescued  from  the  furnace  that  had  devoured  the  heart  of 
the  first  city  of  New  England,  and  the  formal  and  grateful  thanks 
of  the  chief  executive  of  Boston  but  voiced  the  deep  and  heart- 
felt sentiment  of  her  citizens.  Mr.  Marston  did  his  duty  well. 
It  was  not  the  first  time  that  he  had  done  it  well,  under  trying 
circumstances,  and  it  has  not  been  the  last.  Born  in  Waterville, 
Maine,  August  7,  1840,  Captain  Marston  is  yet  in  the  vigor  of 
life,  and  ought  to  have  many  years  of  efficient  service  before  him. 
He  came  to  this  city  in  1857,  and  was  engaged  as  an  attendant 
at  the  Butler  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  under  the  late  Dr.  Ray. 
In  this  institution  Mr.  Marston  remained  for  about  seven  years, 
and  his  experience  there  proved  valuable  in  his  subsequent  service 
at  the  Central  Station,  where  insane  persons  are  frequently 
brought,  pending  an  examination  as  to  their  condition.  Mr. 
Marston  acted  as  instructor  in  the  Reform  School  for  seven 
months,  when  he  was  appointed  night  patrolman  under  Mayor 
Knight,  his  beat  being  the  lower  portions  of  South  Main  and 
South  Water  streets,  in  the  Third  District.  Subsequently  Mr. 
Marston  was  transferred  to  the  day  force,  and  patrolled  the  Great 
Bridge  and  Market  Square  for  two  years.  Then  he  was  appointed 
Sergeant  of  the  Third  District,  in  which  position  he  remained 
for  three  years,  or  until  January,  1869,  when  he  entered  upon 
his  duties  as  Sergeant  of  the  First,  or  Central  Station.  Under 
the  ordinance  of  January  4,  1875,  Mayor  Doyle  promoted  Ser- 
geant Marston  to  be  Captain  of  Police  at  the  Central  Station, 
where  Captain  Marston  remained  until  June  7,  1887,  when  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Fourth  Station. 

The  Captaincy  at  the  Central  is  an  office  of  peculiar  weight  and 
responsibility,  and  that  Captain  Marston  performed  the  duties  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  superior  officers,  his  long  period  of  service 


OUR   POLICE.  ^  295 

there  is  the  potent  evidence.  Long  before  his  appointment  on 
the  police  force,  he  had  been  called  upon,  as  an  attendant  in  the 
Butler  Hospital,  to  assist  the  oflBcers  in  taking  insane  persons 
into  custody,  and,  youth  as  he  was,  he  displayed  tact  and  courage 
in  circumstances  that  eminently  demanded  both  these  qualities. 
With  officer  Swan  he  was  assigned  to  convey  to  the  Butler  Hos- 
pital a  certain  gold-refiner,  whose  insanity,  following  upon  a 
menacing  letter  received  from  the  notorious  William  H.  Warbur- 
ton,  alias  "  Bristol  Bill,"  was  one  of  the  sensational  incidents  of 
Providence  criminal  history.  As  a  member  of  the  police  Mr. 
Marston  displayed  the  same  courage,  tact,  and  judgment  which 
had  made  him  valuable  in  our  leading  institution  for  the  insane, 
and  he  has  always  been  noted  alike  for  humanity  and  firmness  in 
the  treatment  of  prisoners.  That  Providence  has  been  remark- 
ably free  from  those  fatal  errors  which  so  frequently  arouse  public 
indignation  and  horror  in  other  cities,  when  sickness  is  mistaken 
for  drunkenness,  and  the  helpless  who  might  be  saved,  are  hustled 
into  cells  to  die,  is  largely  owing  to  the  caution,  care,  and  human- 
ity exercised  by  Captain  Marston  and  the  officers  of  his  command. 
All  prisoners  taken  by  the  city  police,  and  many  arrested  under 
other  processes,  pass  through  the  Central  Station^  and  the  utmost 
care  is  requisite  to  see  that  no  injustice  is  unwittingly  done,  and 
to  protect  the  reckless  or  senseless  against  themselves.  In  this, 
and  other  respects  relating  to  the  duties  of  a  police  commander, 
Captain  Marston  has  never  been  found  unworthy. 

Of  necessity  Captain  Marston,  as  head  of  the  Central  Station, 
has  had  some  connection  with  many  criminal  cases  of  importance, 
having  all  culprits  under  his  temporary  charge,  from  the  time  of 
their  detention  in  the  Central  until  their  discharge  or  commit- 
ment by  order  of  the  court.  As  accused  persons  are  presumed  to 
be  innocent  until  proven  to  be  guilty.  Captain  Marston  always 
acted  upon  the  injunction  of  the  Constitution  that  "  no  act  of 
severity  which  is  not  necessary  to  secure  an  accused  person  shall 
be  permitted,"  and  he  invariably  reproved  any  officer  for  needless 
harshness  toward  a  prisoner.  He  had  the  gratification,  during 
his  term  at  the  First  Station,  of  witnessing  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  manner  of  arrests.     The  club,  so  far  as  its  public  use  is 


296  OUR   POLICE. 

concerned,  is  almost  obsolete  in  Providence.  It  was  not  so  in  the 
earlier  days  of  the  police.  "Under  the  old  watch,"  said  Captain 
Marston,  "  the  roughs  of  the  town  thought  it  fun  to  *  bait '  the 
police,  and  found  considerable  amusement  in  challenging  them  to 
combat.  The  watchmen  did  their  best,  and  sometimes  the  rough 
paid  the  penalty-  of  life  or  limb  for  his  temerity ;  sometimes,  as 
in  the  case  of  Pullen,  the  officer  got  a  fatal  blow.  When  the 
police  were  first  organized  the  lawless  element  thought  they  could 
browbeat  them,  and  often  resisted  arrest  when  the  officers  attempted 
to  perform  their  duty.  This  necessitated  violence  on  the  part  of 
the  officers,  and  the  roughs  had  to  succumb.  Gradually,  as  the 
ruffian  element  learned  that  they  had  to  submit,  and  that  the 
police  were  a  body  of  men  who  could  not  be  played  with,  resist- 
ance to  arrest  became  less  frequent,  and  to-day  it  seldom  occurs. 
The  law-breaker  knows  that  if  one  i»an  is  not  enough  to  deal  with 
him,  others  will  be  summoned,  and  that  escape  even  would  do 
him  no  good,  as  he  would  be  relentlessly  followed  up. 

"Another  reason  that  clubbing  is  comparatively  rare  now," 
said  Captain  Marston,  "  is  that  the  physique  of  the  force  is  im- 
proving. The  police  are,  as  a  general  thing,  sound  in  body  as 
well  as  intelligent,  and  a  strong  man  does  not  need  to  use  a 
weapon  under  circumstances  when  a  weak  man  might  feel  called 
upon  to  do  so."  Captain  Marston  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  any 
improvement  that  would  add  to  the  efficiency  of  the  force. 

Captain  Marston  has  for  an  aide  Lieutenant  P.  J.  Magill, 
whose  name  is  as  familiar  to  the  public  as  commander  of  the 
Sixth  Station,  as  that  of  Captain  Marston  in  connection  with  the 
First.  An  important  as  well  as  a  troublesome  district,  it  was  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  Sixth  that  organized  outlawry  may  be  said 
to  have  had  its  final  fastness  in  Providence.  In  its  remote 
thoroughfares  ruffianism  still  held  up  its  head,  and  often  found, 
after  some  desperate  crime,  a  ready  and  sympathetic  refuge,  and 
the  policeman  who  dared  to  defy  the  ruffians  and  assert  the 
supremacy  of  law  may  be  said  to  have  taken  his  life  in  his  hands. 
Happily  for  an  efficient  execution  of  justice,  the  authorities  of 
the  neighboring  town  of  Johnston,  with  Town  Sergeant  William 
Carroll  as  their  representative  officer,  have  shown  a  determined 


p.  J.  MAGILL, 
Lieutenant  of  the  Fourth  District 


>      ''  *  r  *    »        e      e« 


OUR   POLICE.  299 

purpose  to  cooperate  with  the  city  police  in  the  suppression  of 
crime,  and  the  criminal  seeking  an  asylum  from  prosecution  in 
the  city  does  not  find  a  haven  of  rest  on  the  other  side  of  the 
line.  Lieutenant  Magill,  during  his  nine  years  of  service  at  the 
Olneyville  Station — as  the  Sixth  Station  is  known — made  him- 
self feared  by  the  lawless  as  he  was  respected  by  the  law-abiding 
residents  of  that  section.  He  broke  up  the  *'  gangs ; "  but  not  until 
after  many  a  hard  struggle,  of  which  some  of  his  former  command 
bear  the  tell-tale  scars  to-day,  and  in  which  he  himself  bore  an 
honorable  and  courageous  personal  part.  He  compelled  ruffianism 
either  to  hide  its  head,  or  dragged  it  to  the  cell,  and  supplied  the 
evidence  to  send  it  to  the  jail  or  the  prison.  With  his  efficient 
corp  of  officers,  he  helped  to  make  the  charming  suburb  of 
Mount  Pleasant  a  secure  abiding-place  for  respectable  residents 
of  our  city  seeking  fresh  air  and  convenient  homes,  and  he  saw 
every  year  neat  and  attractive  dwellings  springing  up  by  the 
score,  and  inhabited  by  happy  families,  as  safe  in  their  homes  as 
in  any  Eastside  or  central  thoroughfare.  That  this  is  largely  due 
to  a  faithful  and  unflinching  police  administration  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  section  and  its  history  must  admit ;  and  Lieu- 
tenant Magill,  for  nearly  a  decade  preceding  February  last  was  a 
conspicuous  figure  in  that  history. 

Coming  to  Providence  when  nine  years  of  age,  with  his  parents, 
who  also  became  residents  of  this  city,  Mr.  Magill  grew  up  a 
thorough  Providence  boy.  In  the  year  1868,  he  joined  the  police 
force,  was  appointed  Sergeant  at  the  Fourth  Station,  March  29, 
1878,  Lieutenant- Commanding  at  the  Sixth,  August  7,  1879, 
and  transferred  to  the  Fourth  in  the  general  changes  of  February, 
last  year.  As  his  history  is  mainly  connected  with  the  Sixth, 
to  that  station  we  must  chiefly  refer.  Unlike  the  criminal 
record  of  the  business  centre  of  the  city,  where  wealth  is  con- 
centrated, and  crime,  when  committed,  takes  a  memorable  form, 
as  in  extensive  forgeries  and  robberies  of  banks  and  large  busi- 
ness houses,  the  story  of  the  Sixth  District  is  that  of  a  long, 
persistent,  and  ultimately  triumphant  contest  for  the  suppression 
of  offenders  vulgarly  known  as  "toughs;"  usually  young  men, 
the  children  of  worthy  parents,  and  prone  to  defy  the  law  rather 


300  OUR   POLICE. 

for  the  excitement  of  such  a  course  than  from  the  deliberate  and 
fully-formed  motive  which  inspires  the  professional  criminal. 
Yet  such  ruffianism  is  perhaps  even  more  dangerous  and  menacing 
to  society  than  the  veneered  villany  of  the  professional  forger  or 
burglar.  The  latter  violates  the  law  in  secret;  outwardly  he 
conforms  to  it.  He  defers  in  appearance  to  the  requirements  of 
the  social  system  upon  which,  in  concealment,  he  preys.  Detected, 
and  seeing  that  escape  is  impossible,  he  yields,  as  a  rule,  without 
any  attempt  at  resistance.  The  ruffian  element,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  in  open  rebellion  against  society  and  its  ordinances.  It 
takes  delight  in  the  inspiration  of  terror,  in  not  alone  violating 
the  law,  but  bearding  the  officers  of  the  law.  Where  ruffianism 
is  in  the  ascendant  there  can  be  no  social  order,  no  security  for 
homes,  or  for  business;  for  the  "gang"  is  the  nucleus  of  the 
mob,  and  the  mob  is  to  the  riot  what  the  tar-barrel  is  to  the  bonfire. 
First  and  foremost,  therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  police  to  put 
down  open  lawlessness,  to  subdue  the  "gangs,"  and  to  vindicate 
the  supremacy  of  law.  This  duty  has  been  well  performed,  as 
before  stated,  in  the  District  over  which  Lieutenant  Magill  pre- 
sided. But  it  is  a  duty  the  performance  of  which  brings  but 
little  fame.  The  subjection  of  a  ruffian,  while  a  service  as  com- 
mendable as  it  is  often  perilous,*  is  not  handed  down  as  a  cele- 
brated case  in  criminal  annals,  like  the  capture  of  a  Brockway 
or  a  Dunmunway.  And  when  local  ruffians  take  to  thieving,  or 
even  breaking  and  entering,  their  crimes,  both  as  to  method  and 
the  amount  of  plunder,  are  seldom  worthy  of  a  permanent 
chronicle.  When  violence  is  aggravated  into  murder,  then,  of 
course,  the  event  becomes  fixed  in  public  memory ;  but  there  is 
rarely  much  call  for  detective  ingenuity  in  bringing  out  the  cir- 
cumstances of  bar-room  encounters  and  street  affrays,  even  when 
they  prove  to  be  fatal.  While,  therefore.  Lieutenant  ^agill's 
police  record  is  one  of  continuous  and  meritorious  enforcement 
of  law  under  circumstances  that  imperatively  demanded  vigor  and 
promptitude  in  action,  yet  the  till-tapping,  street-ruffianipm,  and 
other  sorts  of  crime  with  which  he  had  chiefly  to  deal,  afford  but 
slight  material  for  the  historian.  In  carrying  out  his  duty,  the 
Lieutenant  has  never  hesitated  to  face  pistol,  bludgeon,  or  axe, 


FRANK    A.    MATTHEWS, 

Sergeant  of  the  Fourth  District. 


OUR    POLICE.  30S 

and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  officers  of  his  command.  The 
result  of  his  service  speaks  for  itself.  A  precinct  once  noted  for 
its  lawlessness  has  become  a  garden  spot,  and  the  lawless  ele- 
ment which  infested  it  is  broken,  scattered,  and  powerless  for 
harm. 

Sergeant  Frank  A.  Matthews  is  next  to  the  youngest  Sergeant 
on  the  Providence  Police  Force.  He  was  born  in  Vermont,  in 
the  year  1856.  He  received  a  good  common  school  education. 
The  Sergeant  took  an  early  move  to  the  West,  and  after  living  in 
Ypsilanti,  Michigan,  a  few  years,  he  came  East  again  and  settled 
in  Providence.  Here  he  joined  the  Fire  Department  as  a  driver  of 
Hose  No.  4.  He  was  appointed  a  patrolman  on  the  police  force 
November  18, 1880,  and  promoted  to  a  Sergeantcy  August  5, 1887, 
and  assigned  to  Station  No.  1.  Mr.  Matthews  was  afterwards 
transferred  to  Station  No.  4.  Sergeant  Matthews  has  had  several 
severe  encounters  with  persons  bent  on  rescuing  prisoners,  on 
one  occasion,  in  the  summer  of  1882,  being  painfully  hurt  by  an 
assailant.  He  held  to  his  prisoner,  however,  and  lodged  him  in 
the  station-house.  In  June  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Matthews  was 
severely  injirred  on  Eddy  street  by  a  party  of  rescuers,  being 
pounded  and  kicked  in  the  ribs.  He  kept  his  man,  however, 
throughout,  though  the  encounter  caused  him  prolonged  suffering. 
The  Sergeant  has  also  been  successful  in  detecting  crime,  a  fact 
which  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  his  superior  officers,  who 
recognized  his  merits  with  well-earned,  promotion. 

Among  the  officers  of  the  Providence  police  few  have  a  more 
notable  history  than  James  L.  Sherixian,  who,  besides  having  a 
clean  record  as  a  police  officer,  was  with  Rhode  Island's  favorite 
commander  in  the  rebellion.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion 
he  resided  in  Foxboro,  Mass.,  a  student  in  the  English  Classical 
School  at  that  place.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  respond  to  the 
call  of  President  Lincoln  for  75,000  men,  and  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  Company  F,  Fourth  Massachusetts  State  Militia,  April  16, 
1861.  After  serving  three  months  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Newport 
News,  and  Hampton,  Virginia,  he  was  discharged  July  22,  1861. 
He  acted  as  Adjutant's  Clerk  during  his  service.  Mr.  Sherman 
re-enlisted  for  three  years  August  20,  1861,  as  a  private  in 


304  *  OUR   POLICE. 

Company  K,  Twenty-third  Regiment  Massachusetts  Volunteers. 
He  was  promoted  to  Corporal  September  20,  1861,  to  Sergeant 
May  1,  1862,  Sergeant-Major  August  1,  1862,  Second  Lieu- 
tenant November  8,  1862,  First  Lieutenant  May  3,  1863,  and 
to  Adjutant  June  7,  1863.  He  was  discharged  honorably  in 
October  13,  1864,  by  reason  of  expiration  of  term  of  service. 
During  his  three  years  he  was  with  General  Burnside  in  his 
expedition  to  North  Carolina,  and  also  in  the  Departments  of 
North  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  the  Department  of  the  South, 
he  was  with  the  Army  of  the  James  and  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. He  participated  in  the  following  battles:  Big  Bethel, 
Va.,  Roanoke  Island,  Newborn,  Kingston,  Wilcox  Bridge,  Win- 
ston, Smithfield,  Peckham's  Farm,  Arrowfield's  Church,  Drury's 
Bluff,  Cold  Harbor  and  Petersburg.  Mr.  Sherman  was  wounded 
at  Arrowfield's  Church  and  Cold  Harbor.  Returning  from  the 
war  he  enlisted  as  private  in  the  First  Light  Infantry  of  this 
city,  was  soon  promoted  to  Second  Sergeant,  and  commissioned 
Second  Lieutenant  September  19,  1872.  He  resigned  in  May, 
1873.  Mr.  Sherman  joined  Prescott  Post,  G.  A.  R.  in  August, 
1867,  was  a  charter  member  of  Slocum  Post,  No.  10,  G.  A.  R., 
in  which  Post  he  has  served  as  Quartermaster,  Adjutant,  Junior 
and  Senior  Vice- Commander.  He  also  served  as  the  assistant 
Adjutant  General  of  the  Department  of  Rhode  Island  G.  A.  R., 
and  was  a  member  of  the  first  Council  of  Administration  under 
the  late  General  A.  E.  Burnside.  He  is  also  a  charter  member 
of  Corinthian  Lodge,  No.  27,  A.  F.  A.  Masons,  and  a  member 
of  Providence  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  The  names  of  other  ofificers 
on  the  roster  of  the  Fourth,  are  to  be  found  in  connection  with 
prominent  incidents  related  in  this  work. 


0U&  POLICE.  80§ 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE  FIFTH  THE  MODEL  POLICE-STATION  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. — 
CAPTAIN  BENJAMIN  F.  PAYNE.  —  ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  MAD- 
DENED YOUNG  GIANT. — CAPTAIN  PAYNE'S  REASONS  FOR  ADVO- 
CATING PHYSICAL  EXERCISE. — A  GYMNASIUM  ESTABLISHED  AT 
THE  SECOND  STATION. — THE  ATTEMPTED  ROBBERY  OF  THE 
GENEVA   MILLS  IN    1882. — MR.    ULMANN'S   BOLD   CAPTURE  OF 

THE    ROBBER. CAPTAIN    PAYNE    DETECTS    HIS    DISGUISE. — 

LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  H.  LEAVITT. — ARRESTING  A  DESPER- 
ADO.— A  POPULAR  AND  EFFICIENT  OFFICER. — SERGEANT  BEN- 
JAMIN T.  WHITE. — A  COLORED  PLUNDERER'S' QUEER  METHOD 
OF  ROBBERY. 

The  Fifth  is  the  model  police  station  of  New  England,  if  not 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  situated  at  the  comer  of  Plain  and 
Borden  streets,  and  is  a  building  of  which  the  tax-payers  of  Provi- 
dence have  good  reason  to  be  proud.  The  ordinance  for  the  con- 
struction of  this  station  was  passed  September  12,  1885,  and 
work  upon  it  was  commenced  before  the  close  of  the  month.  The 
entire  work  was  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  Police  Com- 
mittee, Alderman  Gilbert  F.  Robbins,  Councilman  Hofman  S. 
Dorchester,  Councilman  William  B.  Avery,  Councilman  Edwin 
Winsor,  Councilman  Alfred  S.  Potter,  and  the  late  Obadiah 
Slade,  then  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings.  Councilman 
Potter  was  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  H.  B.  Ingraham 
the  architect.  The  building,  which  is  of  Springfield  brick  with 
granite  trimmings,  is  of  modern  architecture,  and  exceedingly 
plain,  the  only  ornamentation  being  the  modest  cresting  which 
surmounts  the  hip  roof.  It  stands  upon  a  lot  85  x  141  feet,  the 
station  proper  occupying  69.6  x  49  feet,  and  the  cell-room 
39  X  28.6  feet.  The  entire  cost  of  buildings  and  lot  amounted 
to  $32,896.22. 

The  station  is  entered  from  its  front  on  Plain  street,  through 


306  OUR   POLICE. 

heavy  double-panelled  doors  opening  into  the  spacious  hallway 
which  leads  into  the  guard -room.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance 
is  the  captain's  oflSce,  a  room  15  x  15  feet.  This  room,  as  are 
all  the  others  in  the  building,  is  finished  in  white  wood,  stained 
cherry.  It  is  amply  lighted  by  windows  protected  by  inside 
shutters.  Its  furnishings,  including  an  elegant  roller-top  desk, 
are  also  of  cherry.  The  floor  is  covered  by  a  tapestry  carpet  of 
a  modest  pattern.  In  the  rear  is  a  private  room,  also  for  the  cap- 
tain's use,  furnished  in  a  similar  manner.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  hall  is  the  business  office.  This  apartment,  in  which  the 
clerical  work  of  the  station  is  done,  is  provided  with  electric  bells 
and  speaking  tubes  connecting  with  the  hallways  on  the  second 
and  third  floors,  the  guard-room,  cell-room,  and  fire-alarm  gong. 
In  a  secluded  alcove  are  the  telephones  connecting  the  Fifth  with 
the  other  city  stations. 

Of  easy  access,  through  an  adjoining  hall,  is  the  lavatory. 
This  room  is  supplied  with  hot  and  cold  water  and  sanitary  closets. 
From  this  hall  entrance  is  also  gained  to  a  spacious  library,  the 
book-case  of  which  is  well  stored  with  standard  literature.  A 
considerable  portion  of  the  volumes  are  the  contributions  of  citi- 
zens residing  in  the  district,  and  the  officers  themselves  have 
added  several  expensive  works.  This  room  is  also  provided  with 
set  bowl  with  hot  and  cold  water.  The  guard-room  is  an  apart- 
ment 25  X  30  feet,  amply  lighted  by  five  windows.  It  is  pro- 
vided with  the  usual  case  for  the  reception  and  safe  keeping  of  the 
revolvers,  clubs  and  belts  of  the  patrolmen,  roll-board  of  officers* 
names,  and  map  of  the  several  beats  travelled  by  the  officers  of 
this  precinct.  In  this  room  the  thirty-four  active  officers  quar- 
tered here  are  assembled  for  roll-call.  From  it  admission  is 
gained  to  a  kitchen,  15  x  15  feet,  from  which  opens  a  conveni- 
ently arranged  pantry.  The  kitchen  is  provided  with  a  range 
and  table,  while  the  pantry  is  stocked  with  adequate  crockery 
and  cooking  utensils  for  use  in  serving  midnight  meals.  From 
the  guard-room  access  is  also  gained  to  two  apartments  for  the 
temporary  detention  of  persons,  especially  women  whom  it  is  not 
desired  to  place  in  the  ordinary  cells.  Access  to  the  second  story 
is  obtained  by  two  stairways,  one  leading  from  the  hallway  in  the 


BENJAMIN  F.  PAYNE, 
Captain  of  the  Fifth  District. 


OUR   POLICE. 


309 


centre  of  the  building,  the  other  from  the  rear  of  the  guard-room. 
The  former,  or  main  stairway,  is  ample  in  width  and  of  easy 
ascent,  and  at  its  head  are  the  bath-rooms  and  sanitary  closets, 
fitted  with  all  the  latest  improvements.  The  front  room  on  the 
right,  21  X  10  feet,  is  used  as  a  smoking  apartment,  where  the 
officers  are  permitted  to  indulge  in  innocent  games.  Across  from 
this  is  the  lieutenant's  room,  connected  by  a  speaking-tube  with 
the  business  office.  To  the  rear  are  the  sleeping  apartments  of 
the  officers.  These  rooms,  of  which  on  the  second  and  third  floors 
there  are  thirty,  vary  in  size  from  21  x  10  to  16.4  x  10  feet. 
The  walls  and  ceilings  of  every  room  throughout  the  building  are 
hard-finished.  Each  sleeping-room  has  a  window,  and  is  pro- 
vided, except  those  occupied  by  the  sergeants,  with  two  beds. 
The  rear  apartment  on  the  second  floor  is  used  by  the  officers  as 
a  wardrobe.  The  third  floor  is  also  provided  with  sanitary  con- 
veniences. On  this  floor,  front,  is  the  captain's  sleeping  apart- 
ment, a  large  airy  room,  handsomely  carpeted  and  furnished  in 
cherry. 

The  cell-room  is  entirely  isolated  from  the  main  building  by  a 
passage-way,  entrance  to  which  is  gained  from  Borden  street. 
Here  the  Black  Maria  each  morning  receives  its  freight  of  pris- 
oners direct  from  the  cell-room  door.  The  fourteen  cells  with 
which  this  room  is  provided,  are  located  in  the  centre,  and  in  all 
respects  make  a  radical  departure  from  old-fashioned  methods. 
Brick  cells  require  a  great  deal  of  room  and  are  not  sanitary ;  brick 
being  an  absorbent  of  moisture  and  filth,  and  mortar  joints  being 
a  convenient  harbor  for  vermin.  This  decided  the  committee  to 
adopt  steel  cells.  These  cells,  which  are  4x7  feet,  are  perfectly 
smooth  in  the  interior ;  they  are  impervious  to  moisture,  filth  or 
vermin  ;  they  are  indestructible,  and  from  peculiar  construction, 
noiseless.  The  steel  partitions  between  the  cells  are  hollow  and 
filled  with  sand.  The  ventilation  of  the  cell  room  is  a  carefully 
wrought  out  scheme,  so  planned  that  the  foul  air  from  the  cells 
cannot  enter  the  corridor.  Each  prisoner  is  furnished  ivith  a 
certain  amount  of  air,  the  basis  of  calculation  being  the  same  as 
in  use  for  hospitals.  Each  cell  is  provided  with  toilet  accommo- 
dations and  all  flushing,  which  is  automatic  and  set  to  any  sped- 


310  OUR   POLICE. 

fied  time,  is  beyond  the  prisoners  interference.  Three  of  the 
cells  are  isolated  from  the  main  room  and  are  used  for  the  incar- 
ceration of  women  and  children.  The  cells  which  have  been 
occupied  through  the  previous  night  are  thoroughly  washed  in 
the  morning,  a  line  of  hose  being  brought  into  requisition  for 
this  purpose.  The  upper  floor  of  the  cell  building,  access  to 
which  is  gained  from  the  second  story  of  the  station  proper  by  a 
bridge,  is  used  as  a  drill  hall.  Necessary  heat  is  derived  from  a 
steam  heater,  located  in  the  basement  of  the  main  building.  '  Gas 
is  used  in  illuminating  the  structure.  The  entire  establishment 
is  a  model  of  neatness,  and  Captain  Benjamin  F.  Payne  is  never 
happier  than  when  calling  the  attention  of  visitors  to  its  many 
conveniences. 

Captain  Benjamin  F.  Payne  was  born  in  Suffolk  County,  New 
York,  forty  years  ago,  and  received  a  common  school  education. 
During  the  late  civil  war  he  did  honorable  service  as  a  non- 
commissioned officer  in  Company  E,  of  the  Forty-second  Massa- 
chusetts Infantry.  lie  became  a  member  of  the  police  force  of 
this  city  on  March  28,  1868,  and  has  been  on  continuous  duty 
till  the  present  time.  He  was  assigned  to  duty  at  the  First  Sta- 
tion as  night  patrolman,  and  in  1873  was  appointed  a  roundsman 
at  the  same  station.  While  patrolman.  Officer  Payne  made 
numerous  arrests,  and  he  has  the  reputation  of  never  having  lost 
a  prisoner  that  he  attempted  to  arrest.  January  7,  1875,  he  was 
appointed  night  Sergeant,  holding  that  office  until  July  28, 1879, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant.  One  night  while  night 
Sergeant,  Officer  Payne  was  sitting  in  the  station  alone,  when  he 
heard  a  loud  noise  in  the  cell-room,  and  as  this  was  prior  to  the 
days  of  detailing  men  on  "  telegraph  "  as  it  was  called,  the  Ser- 
geant went  into  the  room  and  discovered  a  man  in  one  of  the 
cells  who  had  been  arrested  for  drunkenness.  This  man  was  a 
prize  fighter  named  Henry  Murphy,  a  very  strong  rugged  young 
fellow,  and  formidable  to  handle.  He  had  succeeded  in  tearing  off 
a  large  piece  of  planking  from  the  bench  with  which  each  cell  is 
furnished,  and  with  this  he  was  pounding  the  bars  of  his  cell 
door.  Sergeant  Payne  requested  him  to  pass  the  stick  out,  which 
request  was  complied  with  and  the  Sergeant  returned  to  the  office. 


OUR   POLICE.  311 

He  had  hardly  seated  himself,  when  a  noise  was  again  heard  ema- 
nating from  the  cell-room.  Another  visit  disclosed  the  prisoner 
banging  away  at  the  iron  bars,  this  time,  however,  with  a  tin-cup. 
Upon  his  refusal  to  surrender  the  cup  when  requested.  Sergeant 
Payne  threw  the  bolt  of  the  cell  door  open,  with  the  intention  of 
entering  the  cell  and  removing  the  cup.  No  sooner,  however, 
was  the  door  opened  than  Murphy  sprang  suddenly  upon  Mr. 
Payne  and  a  conflict  of  a  most  severe  and  desperate  character  en- 
sued. As  soon  as  Sergeant  Payne  grappled  with  Murphy,  he 
realized  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  a  man  insane  from  drink  as 
well  as  a  giant  in  strength.  The  officer  fighting  for  his  life,  and 
a  rum-crazed  prize  fighter  tearing  at  his  opponent's  throat,  was  an 
experience  Mr.  Payne,  at  least,  will  remember.  Up  and  down 
the  cell  room  the  two  men  fought,  now  rolling  over  and  over  each 
other,  and  now  held  tight  in  each  other's  embrace.  The  contest 
continued  for  several  minutes.  At  length  Mr.  Payne  succeeded 
in  drawing  his  spring  billy,  and  dealing  his  opponent  a  powerful 
blow  on  the  head,  which  disabled  him.  The  blow  appeared 
to  bring  Murphy  to  his  senses,  for  he  at  once  pleaded  with  the 
Sergeant  not  to  strike  again,  and  he  promised  to  behave,  where- 
upon Mr.  Payne  let  him  up  and  secured  him  in  his  cell. 

At  the  end  of  one  year's  service  as  a  Lieutenant,  Mr.  Payne 
was  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  the  Second  District,  and  there 
remained  until  February  6, 1888,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Fifth  Station.  While  in  command  of  the  Second  Station  the 
Captain,  recognizing  the  worth  and  advantages  of  a  gymnasium 
at  the  station  for  the  use  of  the  officers,  called  upon  several  of 
the  citizens  of  his  district,  and  soon  had  raised  about  $200,  which 
was  devoted  to  fitting  up  and  equipping  a  gymnasium  in  the  Drill 
Hall  of  that  station.  Captain  Payne  is  an  earnest  advocate  of 
physical  exercise  for  policemen.  "  Time  after  time,"  he  said,  "I 
have  seen  a  policeman  come  into  the  station  after  a  hard  struggle 
with  his  prisoner,  so  completely  exhausted  that  he  was  scarcely 
able  to  speak,  while  the  prisoner,  probably  a  vicious  young  giant, 
showed  scarcely  any  signs  of  weariness.  On  one  occasion  I  saw 
an  officer  vainly  attempting  to  scale  a  board  fence,  the  gate  to 
which  was  latched  on  the  inside.  A  young  man  standing  near 
by  said : 


812  OUR   POLICE. 

"  *  Shall  I  get  over  and  open  the  gate,  Captain  ?* 

"'Go  ahead!'  I  replied,  though  rather  chagrined  at  the  idea 
of  one  of  my  men  being  outdone  by  a  citizen. 

"  The  young  man  gave  a  leap,  and,  catching  the  top  of  the 
fence,  climbed  over  in  a  mo^ment ;  then  he  opened  the  door  and 
let  us  in.  Nobody  was  hurt  by  the  accident,  luckily,  but  that 
incident  kept  before  my  mind,  and  bothered  me.  That  young 
man,  had  he  been  a  thief  or  a  murderer  with  half  a  minute's 
start  ahead  of  those  policemen,  could  have  escaped  from  them  all 
without  the  slightest  trouble.  And  how  many  criminals  have 
escaped  capture  because  they  have  been  too  fleet  or  powerful  for 
the  pursuing  policeman  will  never  be  known." 

Thoughts  like  these  prompted  Captain  Payne  to  favor  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  gymnasium,  which  should  also  include  the  features 
of  a  social  club.  In  carrying  out  this  object  he  was  most  ably 
seconded  by  the  oflBcers  of  the  district.  When  the  gymnasium  was 
first  established,  being  furnished  by  the  Narragansett  Machine 
Company,  which  likewise  supplied  the  gymnasiums  in  Baltimore, 
the  men  began  to  make  gratifying  progress  in  athletic  skill. 
Captain  Payne  is  confident  that  interest  in  the  subject  will 
increase  as  time  progresses. 

As  commander  of  the  Second  District  Captain  Payne  enforced 
and  maintained  order,  often  under  difficult  circumstances,  and 
with  an  inadequate  force.  Throughout  labor  troubles,  which 
were  not  infrequent  in  a  district  largely  composed  of  factory 
villages,  be  succeeded  in  so  managing  as  to  preserve  the  rights  of 
the  citizen,  and  require  obedience  to  law,  without  resorting  to 
harsh  or  provoking  measures.  He  repressed  the  lawless  element 
sternly,  but  forbore  to  drive  the  thoughtless  into  lawlessness.  It 
is  a  peculiar  district,  and  in  dealing  with  some  of  the  characters 
that  infest  it,  even  a  good  officer  may  query  whether  a  word 
should  precede  a  blow.  But  Captain  Payne  was  fortunate  in 
having  men  who  never  gave  a  blow  without  the  need*for  it,  and 
results  commonly  showed  that  their  judgment  was  correct. 

Captain  Payne  has  had  a  part  in  a  number  of  prominent  arrests. 
One  noted  case  in  which  he  showed  detective  shrewdness  was  the 
attempted  robbery  at  the  Geneva  Mills  in  1882.     Stephen  B. 


OUR    POLICE.  813 

Rathbun  had  been  empfeyed  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  mills. 
Money  was  constantly  missed  from  the  safe,  and  Rathbun  was 
suspected.  There  was  no  proof  of  his  guilt,  but  it  was  thought 
best  to  get  rid  of  him.  In  the  beginning  of  August,  1882,  a 
villainous-looking  individual  applied  for  employment  at  the  mill 
as  a  weaver.  His  appearance  was  so  decidedly  against  him  that 
he  was  promptly  rejected.  About  10.30  o'clock,  on  the  morning 
of  Saturday,  August  12,  1882,  the  same  person  appeared  at  the 
office,  and  said  that  he  wished  to  see  the  overseer  of  the  weave- 
room.  The  clerk  started  in  search  of  the  overseer,  and  the  visitor, 
whose  actions  showed  considerable  familiarity  with  the  premises, 
at  once  entered  where  the  clerk  had  been. 

It  was  pay-day,  and  Mr.  Albert  A.  Sack,  the  treasurer,  and 
Mr.  Morris  S.  Ulmann,  the  secretary  of  the  Geneva  Mills,  were 
making  up  the  pay  envelopes.  Before  them,  on  a  table,  lay 
$4,829  in  money,  of  which  $3,982  was  a  package  of  bills.  The 
stranger  entered  the  rear  office.  He  was  evidently  surprised  at 
seeing  anybody  there.  He  hesitated  a  moment.  Then,  in  a 
loud  voice  he  said:  "I  demand  to  see  the  superintendent!" 
Before  Messrs.  Sack  and  Ulmann  could  recover  from  their  sur- 
prise, the  intruder  seized  the  package  of  bills  and  ran.  Mr. 
Ulmann  at  once  pursued,  discharging  his  pistol  twice  at  the  fugi- 
tive, but  without  hitting  him.  The  driver  of  a  beer-wagon,  who 
tried  to  stop  the  robber,  Avas  deterred  by  the  muzzle  of  a  revolver. 
In  rushing  through  a  gate,  the  fugitive  hurt  his  side  by  contact 
with  a  post.  Before  he  could  get  over  a  fence  Mr.  Ulmann  seized 
him.  He  was  taken  to  the  Geneva  Mill,  and  placed  under 
guard. 

When  Captain  Payne  arrived  he  at  once  saw  that  the  robber 
was  disguised.  He  lifted  off  the  cap,  then  a  wig, — and  Rathbun 
was  disclosed.  He  had  rubbed  black  grease  into  his  close-cropped 
whiskers,  and  in  the  woods,  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Ex- 
Chief  Justice  Bradley,  was  found  a  suit  of  clothes,  which  would 
evidently  have  taken  the  place  of  the  disguise,  had  the  robber 
escaped.  All  tho  money  was  recovered.  Rathbun  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  term  in  State  Prison. 

On  Wednesday,  November  9,  1881,  a  milk-white  mare  and 


314  OUR   POLICE. 

carriage  were  stolen  from  Charles  Young,  of  Danielsonville,  Con- 
necticut. Two  days  later  a  man  giving  the  name  of  "Walter  H. 
Curliss,  went  to  a  colored  man  named  Charles  Brown,  residing 
at  25  Hewes  street,  in  this  city,  and  offered  to  trade  horses. 
Brown  accepted  a  milk-white  mare  in  exchange  for  his  own 
horse,  giving  $100  besides.  Curliss  explained  that  he  belonged 
in  Taunton,  and  was  selling  out  a  farm.  A  day  or  two  later 
Brown  heard  men  talking  in  an  uptown  stable  about  the  theft  at 
Danielsonville,  and  recognized  in  the  description  the  horse  for 
which  he  had  traded.  He  informed  Captain  Payne  of  his  bar- 
gain. The  Captain  notified  Mr.  Young,  and  proceeded  to  search 
out  the  thief.  He  ascertained  that  a  man  named  Harmon  had 
been  seen  in  possession  of  the  horse  traded  by  Curliss.  In  com- 
pany with  the  redoubtable  Town  Sergeant  William  Carroll,  of 
Johnston,  who  has  no  superior  in  any  town  as  a  public  prose- 
cutor and  police  official.  Captain  Payne  drove  about  fifty  miles 
on  the  roads  of  Johnston  and  vicinity  in  search  of  Harmon.  It 
was  found  that  Harmon  had  an  uncle  in  Pawtucket.  From  rela- 
tives there  it  was  learned  that  Harmon  lived  at  No.  285  Friend- 
ship street.  Providence.  There  Captain  Payne  took  the  horse- 
thief  by  surprise  and  arrested  him.  The  Providence  Journal 
said  of  the  case :  "  Considerable  credit  is  due  to  Captain  Payne 
for  the  shrewd  and  successful  manner  in  which  he  has  worked 
the  case,  and  placed  a  dangerous  man  behind  the  bars.  Horse- 
thieving  has  been  carried  on  very  extensively  in  Connecticut 
during  the  past  summer,  and  it  is  thought  that  more  than  one 
case  of  this  nature  can  be  traced  to  Harmon's  door.  Policeman 
Joseph  Bradbury  assisted  Captain  Payne  materially  in  ferreting 
out  the  criminal." 

On  Sunday  evening,  June  12,  1887,  Henry  Thornton  was 
atabbed  on  Smithfield  avenue  by  Joseph  Schayer.  The  Provi- 
dence Journal  of  June  14th  said :  "  The  capture  of  two  young 
men  implicated  in  the  affair  by  Captain  Payne,  of  the  Second 
Station,  and  his  men,  was  a  remarkable  piece  of  quick  and  intel- 
ligent work,  and  reflects  great  credit  upon  the  officers  concerned 
in  the  arrest.  Captain  Payne  was  notified  by  Lieutenant  O'Neil 
about  twelve  o'clock,  and  immediately  upon  his  arrival  the  work 


WILLIAM  H.  LEAVITT, 
X4eutenant  of  the  Fifth  District. 


C  •     •      c 

C       C        C      (. 

o  •     «* 


OUR    POLICE.  31T 

of  investigation  was  begun.  Only  a  slight  clue  was  obtained  at 
the  outset,  and  that  was  that  the  assailants  were  either  Germans 
or  French-Canadians.  Captain  Payne  at  once  sent  word  to  the 
station  for  a  detachment  of  his  men,  and  kept  the  night  relief  on 
duty  in  the  vicinity.  He  then  sent  his  officers  in  all  directions 
to  call  at  houses  where  Germans  and  Frenchmen  were  in  the 
habit  of  stopping,  with  instructions  to  request  admittance  and 
communication  with  the  inmates.  In  this  way  a  thorough  and 
systematic  search  was  instituted.  In  one  instance  the  officers 
were  refused  admittance,  and  the  house  was  surrounded  until 
such  time  as  the  occupants  would  open  the  door.  Finally  Cap- 
tain Payne  reached  the  house  of  Julius  Stromwayer,  just  over 
the  city  line  on  Smithfield  avenue.  The  Captain  made  his  way 
to  the  room  of  Joseph  Schayer.  The  assailant  had  been  described 
as  a  dark-complexioned  man  with  a  dark  mustache.  Schayer  had 
a  light  complexion  and  smooth  face.  Captain  Payne  was  at  first 
disposed  to  retire,  but  a  happy  thought  struck  him,  and  he  said : 
"  Schayer,  what  about  that  trouble  you  had  over  in  Smithfield 
avenue  last  night?"  The  Captain  was  astonished  to  hear  the 
reply,  given  without  hesitation,  '  We  were  on  the  avenue  sing- 
ing German  songs,  and  two  fellows  came  up  to  us  and  called  us 
out  of  our  names.'  Captain  Payne  then  asked:  *  Where  is  the 
knife  you  used?'  Schayer  at  once  pointed  out  the  weapon, 
which  was  in  the  pocket  of  his  coat."  Thornton  hovered  between 
life  and  death  for  some  time,  but  finally  recovered.  The  evidence 
given  in  court  showed  that  Schayer  had  acted  in  self-defence,  and 
that  his  previous  character  was  of  the  best. 

Lieutenant  William  H.  Leavitt  was  born  in  Standish,  Maine, 
in  1839,  and  came  to  Rhode  Island  when  about  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  Mr.  Leavitt  joined  the  Providence  police  force  in  1874, 
and  was  assigned  to  night  patrol  duty  at  the  Fourth  Police 
Station.  In  1878  he  was  promoted  to  roundsman,  and  assigned 
to  the  Third  Station,  and  to  sergeant  in  1880,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Fifth  Station.  Shortly  after  the  election  of  Chief 
Child,  in  1881,  Mr.  Leavitt  was  appointed  Lieutenant,  on  duty 
at  the  Fifth  Station,  where  he  remains.  All  of  Mr.  Leavitt 's 
promotions  have  been  earned  by  steady  performance  of  duty. 


318  OUR   POLICE. 

During  his  entire  term  of  service  he  has  never  given  occasion 
even  for  reprimand,  and  he  justly  holds  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  his  superiors  and  subordinates.  He  has  made  his  full 
share  of  important  arrests,  on  one  occasion  tracing  to  the  Adams 
House  a  man  who  had  attempted  a  murder,  and  arresting  him  as 
he  lay  sleeping  in  bed,  pistol  in  hand,  and  the  weapon  pointed  to 
the  door.  The  desperado  had  fallen  asleep  in  this  attitude,  but 
would  doubtless  have  used  the  pistol  if  awake.  During  about 
nine  years  service  under  Captain  Costine  the  best  relations  ex- 
isted between  Mr.  Leavitt  and  his  commander,  as  between  Cap- 
tain Payne  and  the  Lieutenant  to-day.  Mr.  Leavitt  is  of  wiry 
build,  well  seasoned  to  police  work,  and  evidently  good  yet  for 
many  years  of  valuable  service.  He  is  an  earnest  admirer  of  the 
Fifth,  as  the  model  police  station  of  the  country,  and  thinks 
that  the  health  of  the  officers  has  been  improved,  and  that  of 
prisoners  protected,  by  the  provision  for  separating  the  cell-rooms 
from  the  station,  and  for  the  thorough  cleansing  and  ventilation 
of  the  cells. 

Sergeant  Benjamin  T.  White,  of  the  Fifth  Station,  was  born 
in  Bristol,  R.  I.,  in  1837.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Fire  De- 
partment in  1855,  and  is  a  member  now  of  the  Firemen's  Veteran 
Association.  He  did  duty  when  Howard  Block  was  in  flames 
and  burned  all  night,  and  he  went  to  the  cotton  fire  at  Fox  Point 
on  a  Friday  night,  returning  on  Sunday  night.  The  Sergeant 
has  the  appearance  of  a  hearty,  rugged  veteran,  seasoned  rather 
than  dismantled  by  a  half  century  of  buffeting  through  the  world. 
He  was  appointed  on  the  police  force  July  22, 1870,  promoted  to 
roundsman  July  18,  1876,  and  to  Sergeant  December  15,  1880. 
Serving  in  the  Second  District,  when  it  was  still  far  from  a  settled 
and  orderly  condition,  it  was  his  fortune  to  make  a  good  number 
of  important  arrests.  A  singular  case  was  that  of  Isaac  Potter, 
whom  Mr.  White  arrested  for  breaking  and  entering  on  Clayton 
street.  Potter  raised  the  window  of  a  house,  pushed  in  a  poliB  with 
a  grappling  iron  attached  to  it,  and  hooked  things  out,  the  pole 
emerging  with  a  pair  of  pantaloons  and  a  woman's  dress  at  the 
end  of  it.  Mr.  White  arrested  Potter.  The  question  was  raised 
whether  the  act  constituted  burglary,  and  Potter  was  ultimately 


BENJAMIN    T.    WHITE, 
Sergeant  of  the  Fifth  DistricU 


m 


OUR   POLICE.  321 


punished  for  a  lighter  offence.  In  November,  1881,  Mr.  White 
Lad  a  desperate  fight  with  a  crowd  of  roughs  at  the  corner 
of  Ives  and  India  streets.  The  officer's  clothes  were  nearly 
torn  from  his  person,  but  he  held  on  to  his  man  and  landed 
him  safely  in  the  lock-up  at  Station  No.  3.  In  August,  1871, 
while  passing  down  Furnace  street,  in  the  evening,  he  heard 
the  cry  of  "Watch!  Murder!"  He  ran  to  the  spot  and  just 
as  he  reached  there,  out  came  a  colored  man,  head  first, 
through  the  window-sash  and  all.  Upon  going  inside  the  house 
he  found  a  party  of  ruffians  there  making  it  decidedly  lively  for 
the  inmates.  They  made  a  rush  for  the  door  upon  seeing  the 
officer,  but  he  captured  one.  Horace  Lewis,  Sergeant  of  Station 
3,  coming  up  at  this  time,  arrested  another  of  the  gang,  but  not 
before  he  was  knocked  down  once  or  twice  by  them.  One  morn- 
ing early  Mr.  White  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  India  street  and 
arrest  a  woman  on  a  warrant,  charging  her  with  being  a  lewd  and 
lascivious  person.  Hearing  the  officer  ascending  the  stairs  she 
disrobed  and  jumped  into  bed,  and  all  the  officer's  persuasion 
could  not  induce  her  to  get  up  and  don  her  wearing  apparel. 
Seeing  that  the  woman  did  not  mean  to  dress  herself  he  sent  for 
an  express  wagon,  and  when  it  arrived  he  again  besought  her  to 
arise  and  dress,  he  being  in  an  adjoining  apartment,  but  she  only 
taunted  him  by  daring  him  to  lay  a  finger  on  her.  Suddenly  Mr. 
White  gave  a  spring,  and  grabbing  the  bed-clothes,  quickly  rolled 
the  astonished  woman  up  in  them,  and  telling  the  expressman, 
now  on  the  spot,  to  take  her  wearing  apparel,  he  carried  her 
bodily  down  the  stairs  and  deposited  her  in  the  bottom  of  the 
express  wagon.  There  she  quietly  remained  until  arrival  at 
the  Station. 


822  OUB  POLics. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  SIXTH  STATION  A  TEMPORARY  HABITATION. — CAPTAIN  PBU- 
BEN  R.  BAKER. — FROM  CABIN-BOY  TO  CAPTAIN  WHILE  YET  A 
YOUTH. — APPOINTED  ON  THE  POLICE  FORCE. — ^ARREST  OP  THE 
WOULD-BE  MURDERER  OF  A  DAUGHTER. — A  FORTUNATE  RESCUE 
IN  THE  DARK. — INTERESTING  INCIDENT  OP  THE  CAPTAIN'S 
EXPERIENCE. — THE  SUSPECTED  DIGGERS  FOR  HIDDEN  WEALTH. 
— SKETCH  OF  LIEUTENANT  SCOTT. — CAPTURE  OF  A  COUNTER- 
FEITER.— SERGEANT  GEORGE  CRANE,  JR. — PERILOUS  ENCOUN- 
TERS WITH  REFRACTORY  PRISONERS. — THE  ASSAULT  ON  PA- 
TROLMAN GROVER. — SERGEANT  WILLIAM  B.  ROWE. 

Although  an  extensive  district,  with  twenty-eight  miles  of 
streets,  and  an  area  of  2.75  square  miles,  the  Sixth  Station  is 
merely  a  temporary  habitation,  unworthy  of  the  city,  and  unfit 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  police.  The  wooden  building  on 
Capron  street,  ceded  to  the  city  when  the  late  Tenth  Ward  was 
annexed,  has  been  somewhat  improved  by  being  raised  one  story, 
but  it  is  not  a  station-house  in  any  proper  sense  of  that  -compound 
word.  It  has,  however,  a  captain  second  to  none  in  popularity, 
or,  so  far  as  he  has  been  able  to  demonstrate  in  his  term  of  serv- 
ice, in  merit.  Captain  Reuben  R.  Baker,  too,  started  by  follow- 
ing the  sea.  It  is  noteworthy  how  many  good-hearted,  whole- 
souled  members  of  the  force  began  their  life  as  mariners.  la 
there  something  about  the  wide  ocean  that  broadens  men's  minds, 
and  smoothes  away  the  little,  jagged  prejudices  of  life,  as  the 
mighty  waves  smooth  the  surface  of  the  breasting  rocks  ? 

Captain  Reuben  R.  Baker  was  born  in  Dennis,  Mass.,  in  1845, 
went  to  sea  as  a  boy,  and  graduated  from  cabin  to  captain. 
He  was  appointed  on  the  police  force  February  1,  1875,  and  for 
meritorious  conduct  was  promoted  to  roundsman  in  1877 ;  pro- 
moted to  sergeant,  September  13,  1877 ;  to  lieutenant,  August  7, 
1879,  and  to  a  captaincy,  February  2, 1888.    Captain  Baker  hag 


OUR   POLICE.  323 

made  a  number  of  important  arrests  since  his  first  appointment, 
several  of  which  are  well  worth  repeating.  October  29,  1880, 
he,  with  officer  William  N.  Sherman,  heard  cries  of  distress  about 
3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  which  cries  seemed  to  come  from  the 
west  side  of  the  river.  Mr.  Baker  was  then  stationed  at  the 
Third  Station.  Breaking  a  window  in  the  ferry-house,  at  the 
foot  of  James  street,  they  procured  oars,  boarded  one  of  the  ferry 
boats,  and  crossed  the  river  in  the  direction  of  the  cries,  which 
could  still  be  heard,  but  very  indistinctly.  Upon  reaching  the 
opposite  side  they  discerned  a  man  clinging  to  a  hawser  that  led 
from  a  schooner  to  the  wharf.  He  was  barely  able  to  keep  his 
head  above  water  when  the  ofiicers  arrived.  He  was  pulled  into 
the  boat,  and  locked  up  at  the  Third  Station,  in  an  intoxicated 
condition. 

About  midnight,  Saturday,  November  12, 1881,  John  E.  Moran 
was  fatally  stabbed,  by  a  man  named  James  Sheehan,  in  the  rear 
of  a  saloon  on  the  corner  of  Ives  and  Power  streets.  Word  was 
sent  to  Station  Three,  and  Captain  Baker  immediately  started  out 
in  pursuit  of  the  manslayer.  He  found  Sheehan  at  his  home  on 
Preston  street  about  1.30  o'clock.  He  took  him  before  Moran, 
who  fully  identified  him.  He  was  then  sent  to  the  Third  Station 
in  charge  of  two  officers.  Moran  died  the  next  day  at  the  Rhode 
Island  Hospital.  Sheehan  was  an  old  man,  and  when  his  case 
came  up  for  trial  he  was  allowed  to  put  in  a  plea  of  guilty  of 
manslaughter. 

On  the  night  of  December  6,  1881,  Severn  Custis,  colored, 
shot  Jacob  Williams,  also  colored,  at  the  corner  of  Brook  and 
Wickenden  streets.  Lieutenant  Baker,  with  officer  Joseph  Ar- 
nold, arrested  Custis,  soon  after,  in  his  house  on  Sheldon  street. 
The  pistol  could  not  be  found  just  then,  and  after  taking  the 
prisoner  to  the  station,  Lieutenant  Baker  went  back  and  searched 
for  the  weapon.  He  found  it  under  some  clothes  in  a  tub  in  a 
back  room.  Williams,  who  recovered,  still  carries  the  bullet. 
Custis  died  in  State  Prison. 

Saturday  evening,  August  18,  1883,  Edward  Garvin  was 
stabbed  in  the  back,  and  his  face  was  cut  open,  in  his  yard  at 
No.  8   Trenton   street,   by   Thomas    Gallagher.     Dr.   Kenney 


824  OUR   POLICE. 

dressed  the  wounds,  and  thought  they  might  prove  fatal.  Gal- 
lagher, after  the  stabbing,  disappeared ;  but,  with  his  usual  perti- 
nacity the  Captain  followed  up  all  clues  reported  to  him  of  the 
criminal's  whereabouts.  He  ascertained,  by  careful  inquiry,  that 
Gallagher  was  secreted  in  a  bouse  on  the  outskirts  of  East  Prov- 
idence, R.  I.  Monday,  August  20, 1883,  Captain  Baker,  accom- 
panied by  officer  George  A.  Reeves,  proceeded  to  the  house  about 
daylight,  and  arrested  the  man.  Moran  recovered  from  his 
wounds,  and  Gallagher  was  convicted  of  an  assault  with  a 
dangerous  weapon,  and  sentenced  to  the  State  Prison. 

Wednesday,  June  25,  1884,  Dennis  J.  Sullivan  met  his  16- 
year-old  daughter,  Annie  L.  Sullivan,  in  the  entry  of  his  house, 
and  attempted  to  kill  her.  He  succeeded  in  partly  cutting  her 
throat,  making  a  very  dangerous  wound.  She  escaped  from  his 
clutches  with  her  life.  Her  cries  for  help  called  the  police  to 
the  spot,  but  before  their  arrival  the  infuriated  man  had  got  out 
of  sight.  Captain  Baker  succeeded  in  arresting  him  about  10.45 
o'clock  the  same  night  the  deed  was  committed,  in  a  house  in  the 
rear  of  the  lower  part  of  South  Main  street.  Annie  recovered, 
and  her  father  was  sentenced  to  the  State  Prison.  September 
14,  1884,  about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  officer  Skinner  A. 
Collier  reported  to  Captain  Baker  that  he  had  heard  some  one 
crying  for  help  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  The  cries 
seemed,  he  said,  to  come  from  below  the  Point  Street  Bridge. 
The  Captain,  accompanied  by  the  officer,  proceeded  to  the  dock, 
and  listened  for  a  repetition  of  the  cries ;  but  all  was  silent  except 
the  water  rippling  around  the  piles.  Captain  Baker  pried  open 
a  box  on  a  float,  where  oars  were  kept.  Selecting  a  pair  the  two 
officerc  boarded  a  boat  at  the  bridge,  and  rowed  about  half  a  mile 
down  the  river,  and  then  crossed  to  the  west  side.  Just  below 
the  Gas  Company's  wharf  Captain  Baker  ceased  rowing,  shouted, 
and  awaited  a  reply.  A  rustling  noise  among  the  piles  attracted 
their  attention.  Rowing  to  the  spot  they  savr  a  man  with  his 
arms  clasped  around  one  of  the  piles.  He  was  so  exhausted  that 
he  could  not  make  any  outcry,  and  the  tide  had  flowed  around 
him  so  that  his  head  was  barely  out  of  the  water.  lie  was 
promptly  rescued  from  his  perilous  position,  and  taken  to  the 
station,  where  he  received  the  necessary  attention. 


REUBEN  R.  BAKER, 
Captain  of  the  Sixth  District. 


^  •       c    «  '  c 


OUR   POLICE.  327 

Captain  Baker  related  to  the  writer  the  following  interesting 
story  :  "  In  August,  1882,  while  spending  a  short  furlough  in  a 
town  called  West  Harwich,  in  Massachusetts,  one  evening  some 
of  the  citizens  discovered  what  they  thought  was  evidence  of  a 
great  crime  having  been  committed.  A  colored  woman,  accom- 
panied by  two  young  white  men,  landed  at  the  railroad  depot  in 
North  Harwich,  with  a  very  large  trunk,  of  unusual  length, 
which  was  checked  from  Providence,  R.  I.  When  they  left  the 
station  they  did  not  take  the  trunk,  but  went  in  a  direction* 
towards  the  most  secluded  portion  of  the  town.  In  the  early 
evening  they  came  with  a  wagon  and  took  the  trunk  and  drove 
around  in  several  diiFerent  directions  on  back  roads,  and  finally, 
near  midnight,  landed  on  what  is  called  an  island  near  Herring 
river ;  that  is,  a  dry  spot  of  wooded  land  surrounded  by  a  meadow 
or  low  marsh.  There,  they  were  seen  busily  engaged  at  work, 
with  lighted  lanterns,  until  long  after  midnight.  The  fact  soon 
became  circulated  among  the  people,  and  stories  and  theories  were 
numerous.  The  good  folks  were  all  very  much  excited,  as  they 
felt  sure  some  crime  was  being  committed  or  secreted  among  them. 
Some  reported  they  saw  a  large  box  big  enough  to  hold  a  casket 
sunk  in  the  river  near  the  island.  The  next  day  some  fished  the 
river,  but  found  no  box,  and  others  procured  teams  and  drove  to 
the  island,  where  they  found  the  earth  had  been  dug  up  in  a 
number  of  places,  in  some  places  to  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten 
feet.  The  sofk  earth  was  shoveled  over,  but  no  trace  of  anything 
could  be  found  concealed  beneath  it.  Certain  of  the  citizens 
appealed  to  me  to  take  action  in  the  matter,  but  as  there  was  no 
reliable  evidence  of  any  crime  being  committed,  and  so  many 
stories  in  circulation,  I  did  not  care  to  do  so.  I  considered  the 
transaction  to  be  too  open  and  bungling  to  be  the  work  of  any 
criminal.  The  next  evening  the  trunk  was  left  at  the  depot  and 
checked  for  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  three  tickets  bought  by  one 
of  the  young  men.  I  was  called  on  that  evening  and  asked  to 
arrest  the  strangers  before  they  got  away  from  the  town,  but  I 
referred  my  visitors  to  the  town  ofScers,  and  told  them  it  was 
their  place  to  act  and  not  min3.  As  the  parties  came  from  Provi- 
dence, and  were  going  to  return  there,  I  thought  I  would  see 


328  OUR   POLICE. 

them,  so  as  to  know  them  again  if  anything  should  come  of  their 
doings,  especially  if  connected  with  something  committed  in 
Providence.  The  next  morning  I  arose  early  and  drove  to  the 
depot.  Before  the  party  arrived  I  examined  the  trunk  and  the 
weight,  and  all  the  particulars  were  explained  to  me  by  interested 
parties.  I  placed  a  private  mark  on  the  trunk  so  that  I  could 
know  it  if  I  saw  it  again.  When  the  party  arrived  at  the  depot 
I  noted  a  very  particular  description  of  them,  so  I  would  surely 
know  either  of  them  again  should  I  chance  to  meet  them,  and  so 
that  I  could  give  an  accurate  description  if  necessary.  I  entered 
into  conversation  with  one  of  them  about  the  weather,  but  as  he 
seemed  disinclined  to  talk  I  did  not  press  the  conversation.  The 
colored  woman  spoke  to  a  lady  in  the  depot.  The  lady  addressed 
belonged  in  Providence  and  I  was  somewhat  acquainted  with  her, 
80  I  felt  quite  sure  I  could  locate  the  colored  woman  if  I  wanted 
to  when  I  arrived  home. 

"  Meantime  a  friend,  very  much  interested  in  the  affair,  secretly 
gained  access  to  the  trunk,  and  opened  it  the  night  before  it  left 
the  depot  for  Providence,  to  see  what  it  contained.  He  only 
revealed  his  secret  to  me.  It  contained  a  shovel,  a  spade,  two 
lanterns,  pair  rubber  boots,  overcoat,  small  box,  some  other  small 
articles  of  clothing,  and  some  peculiarly-shaped  oak  twigs  covered 
with  moss  and  tied  together  with  a  white  string.  After  they 
had  left  on  the  train  that  A.  M.,  I  was  called  on  by  one  of  the 
selectmen  of  the  town  to  know  if  I  could  not  have  the  party 
arrested  when  they  arrived  in  Providence.  I  informed  him  that 
I  could  if  they  were  charged  with  any  crime.  If  they  had  evi- 
dence to  that  effect,  and  he  or  any  one  else  in  authority  would  go 
to  Providence  to  appear  against  them,  or  would  send  any  officer 
with  a  warrant,  I  would  telegraph  and  have  them  detained  until 
the  officer  arrived  with  the  warrant,  if  he  would  start  that  day. 
The  selectman  acknowledged  he  had  no  charge  he  could  bring 
against  them.  After  I  returned  to  Providence  I  did  not  find 
time  to  investigate  the  affair  for  a  few  days,  and  before  I  had 
fairly  started  to  investigate,  I  was  called  on  at  my  house  by  two 
State  officers  from  Massachusetts,  who  had  been  sent  to  look  the 
matter  up.     I  told  them  my  views  and  what  I  had  then  learned, 


OUR    POLICE.  329 

and  they  were  convinced,  as  well  as  myself,  that  the  incident  had 
no  connection  with  crime,  but  that  the  parties  were  following  up 
some  dream  or  fortune-teller's  whim.  I  told  them  I  would  in- 
quire thoroughly,  and  would  inform  them  of  the  result.  They 
left  me  their  address  and  returned  home.  The  next  day  I  visited 
the  colored  woman  that  I  had  already  located.  I  was  told  she 
was  sick.  I  assured  her  maid  that  my  business  was  of  great  im- 
portance, and  she  came  into  the  parlor.  While  I  was  waiting  for 
her  in  her  parlor  I  saw  on  the  table  the  oak  twigs  tied  together 
with  a  white  string,  that  had  been  in  the  trunk.  At  first  she  did 
not  seem  inclined  to  give  me  any  information,  but  after  I  informed 
her  that  I  was  an  officer,  and  also  told  her  the  trip  she  had  taken, 
about  the  trunk  and  its  contents,  and  picked  up  the  oak  twigs  that 
were  on  the  table,  and  told  her  where  they  came  from,  and  that 
they  were  brought  in  the  trunk ;  also  what  train  she  left  on,  whom  the 
tickets  were  bought  by,  that  the  young  man  kept  her  ticket  until 
they  arrived  at  Attleboro',  when  he  gave  her  her  ticket  and  left 
the  car  she  was  in,  and  was  not  seen  to  speak  to  her  again ;  she 
seemed  very  much  surprised  and  said:  *  You  know  all  about  it.' 
She  then  sat  down  and  told  me  the  whole  story.  She  said  she 
was  a  medium  and  told  fortunes  while  in  a  trance.  A  young 
lady,  a  sister  to  the  two  young  men,  had  been  to  her  several 
times,  and  while  in  a  trance  telling  the  young  lady's  fortune,  she 
had  told  her  of  a  large  amount  of  money  being  buried  on  the 
island  that  I  have  spoken  of.  The  sister  told  her  brothers  about 
it,  and  they  had  also  been  to  see  her.  She  had  assured  them 
that  there  was  a  large  quantity  of  money  there,  and  they  could 
get  it  if  they  went  to  the  right  spot  and  dug  it  up  at  the  right 
time.  They  prepared  to  go,  and  in  order  to  make  it  sure  they 
took  her  with  them,  so  she  could  go  into  a  trance  and  locate  the 
exact  spot  where  it  was  buried.  I  asked  her  if  she  located  the 
spot.  She  said  she  did,  and  was  satisfied  the  money  was  there, 
buried  in  large  quantities.  I  asked  why  they  did  not  get  it. 
She  said  they  did  not  commence  to  dig  just  on  the  hour  of  mid- 
night, and  did  not  dig  quite  deep  enough.  I  frequently  met  the 
two  young  men  before  I  went  to  see  the  colored  lady,  and  knew 
just  where  to  find  them.     I  soon  after  obtained  all  the  details  of 


330  OUR   POLICE. 

their  preparations  before  starting  on  the  trip,  how  and  when  they 
started,  and  also  when  they  arrived  back  to  Providence,  how  the 
trunk  was  taken  from  the  depot,  and  where  the  tools  and  utensils 
were  taken  to." 

Captain  Baker  has  an  experienced  and  competent  assistant  in 
Lieutenant  Scott,  who  has  served  at  the  Central,  the  Fourth,  the 
Second,  and  Fifth  Stations.  The  Lieutenant  was  born  in  West 
Bath,  Maine,  in  1834.  Like  other  Maine  boys  he  loved  the  sea 
and  followed  it  until  appointed  on  the  Providence  police.  May  21, 
1873.  He  was  promoted  to  Sergeant  December  14,  1879,  and 
to  Lieutenant  July  15,  1888.  In  the  fall  of  1877,  in  the  month 
of  November,  he  had  a  desperate  fight  with  three  Frenchmen,  on 
Gaspee  street.  Mr.  Scott  was  very  roughly  handled  by  them. 
They  escaped  arrest  and  fled  to  Canada.  Mr.  Scott  was  confined 
to  his  house  a  long  time  on  account  of  the  injuries  received.  In 
the  month  of  December,  1878,  on  the  13th,  four  men  were  ar- 
rested in  the  Boston  and  Providence  depot  for  passing  counterfeit 
money.  The  arrest  was  made  by  Detectives  Swan  and  Waldron. 
One  of  the  fellows  escaped  from  their  custody  and  ran  across 
Exchange  place.  A  citizen  made  a  motion  to  detain  him,  but 
the  fellow  drew  a  pistol  and  threatened  to  shoot,  and  the  citizen, 
thinking  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  gave  him  all  the  side- 
walk. The  counterfeiters  answered  to  the  names  of  Frank  Ray- 
mond, H.  J.  Raymond,  John  Quinn,  and  Robert  Clark.  Clark 
was  the  one  that  escaped.  Mr.  Scott  was  patrolman  at  the  time, 
and  about  12.30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  December,  14,  being 
the  next  morning  after  the  escape  of  Clark,  he  discovered  a  man 
on  South  Main  street,  apparently  drunk,  staggering  along.  Of- 
ficer Scott  crossed  over  and  interviewed  him.  The  man  gave 
evasive  replies  to  questions  asked  him  by  Mr.  Scott,  and  this  led 
the  ofiicer  to  arrest  him.  The  man  went  along  peacefully  enough 
until  near  the  foot  of  College  street,  when  he  turned  upon  the 
officer  and  swore  that  he  would  not  go  another  step.  A  struggle 
began,  and  they  both  fell  in  the  street,  with  the  prisoner  on  top. 
In  this  position  the  fellow  drew  a  revolver  and,  firing,  shot  the 
officer  through  the  thio^h.  Then  followed  a  terrific  wrestle  for 
victory.     Mr.  Scott  made  it  so  lively  for  the  prisoner  that  he 


JAMES  P.  SCOTT, 
Lieutenant  of  the  Sixth  District 


n.ii 


OUR   POLICE.  333 

could  not  get  a  chance  to  fire  again  while  rolling  in  the  street. 
The  officer  finally  turned  his  assailant,  and  broke  away  from  him 
and  regained  his  feet.  The  fellow  also  sprang  up  with  so  much 
agility  that  it  was  plain  to  the  officer  that  he  had  been  only  pre- 
tending drunkenness.  Mr.  Scott  struck  him  with  his  club  as  the 
man  endeavored  to  close  in,  whereupon  the  man  aimed  a  pistol 
and  pulled  the  trigger,  but  fortunately  the  cap  only  snapped. 
The  officer  then  used  his  club  so  vigorously  on  the  head  of  the 
refractory  prisoner  that  the  latter  was  forced  to  succumb.  Other 
officers,  hearing  the  firing,  ran  to  the  spot,  and  the  prisoner  was 
taken  to  the  Central  Station,  bathed  in  blood  from  the  wounds 
inflicted  by  the  plucky  officer's  billet.  Upon  arriving  at  the 
Station  the  man  was  searched,  and  it  then  became  apparent  to 
all  present  that  he  was  the  counterfeiter  that  had  escaped  from 
the  detectives  earlier  in  the  night.  One  hundred  and  fifty  spu- 
rious dollars  were  found  upon  him.  The  others,  when  searched 
at  the  time  of  their  arrest,  had  nothing  in  the  shape  of  spurious 
coin  that  could  convict  them  of  being  passers  of  counterfeit  money. 
Clark  got  two  years  in  the  Rhode  Island  State  Prison,  as  also 
did  his  partners  in  crime.  Clark,  however,  received  eighteen 
months  additional  sentence  for  an  assault  on  an  officer. 

Sergeant  George  Crane,  Jr.,  was  born  in  New  York  City  in 
the  year  1852.  He  attended  the  public  schools,  and  was  for 
some  years  in  the  express  business.  He  was  appointed  on  the 
Police  Force  December  15,  1879,  and  assigned  to  Station  3. 
Mr.  Crane  was  promoted  to  day  duty  November  14,  1880, 
and  to  Sergeant  November  5,  1883,  and  assigned  to  Station  6. 
He  was  transferred  to  Station  3,  from  there  to  Station  4,  and 
from  Station  4  to  the  Sixth  Police  Station  again.  The  Sergeant 
performed  good  service  at  each  of  the  stations.  Like  most  of 
the  officers  with  long  experience  at  the  Sixth  Station,  Sergeant 
Crane  has  had  a  number  of  perilous  encounters  with  refractory 
prisoners  and  their  friends.  He  is  likely  to  remember  Christmas 
day,  1880,  when,  after  a  lively  struggle,  he  proved  himself  more 
than  a  match  for  one,  John  Smith,  who  had  deliberately  assault- 
ed him,  in  order  to  enable  a  prisoner  to  escape.  The  Sergeant 
captured  Smith,  and  also  re-captured  the  prisoner.     A  pitched 


334  OUR    POLICE. 

battle,  in  autumn  of  the  same  year,  with  one  of  the  roughest 
denizens  of  that  section,  has  also  left  an  impress  on  Mr. 
Crane's  mind,  associated  with  kicks,  bruises  and  bites  received 
on  that  occasion.  The  Sergeant  had  about  subdued  his  man, 
when  two  other  roughs  interfered,  knocked  the  officer  down, 
kicked  and  beat  him  almost  into  helplessness,  dismantled  his  uni- 
form, and  tore  off  his  chevrons.  With  a  supreme  effort  the 
Sergeant  regained  his  feet,  and  seized  his  prisoner  by  the  throat. 
One  of  the  ruffians  seized  a  stone,  and  struck  the  officer  on  the 
head,  but  failed  to  stun  him.  Officer  Benjamin  Chace  came  to 
the  rescue,  and  the  prisoner  was  taken  in,  and  got  ninety  days  for 
assault  upon  an  officer.  Sergeant  Crane,  with  Detective  Parker, 
traced  Henry  Nolan,  accused  of  stealing  a  gold  watch,  to  Wor- 
cester, in  May,  1883.  Nolan  got  one  year  in  State  prison. 
Sergeant  Crane  has  made  a  number  of  arrests  for  larceny  and 
breaking  and  entering.  He  also  assisted,  August  25,  1888,  in 
the  arrest  of  two  men  suspected  of  the  murder  of  Waterman 
Irons. 

The  latest  serious  case  of  assault  on  an  officer  in  the  Sixth 
District,  was  on  September  1st,  of  last  year,  and  as  the  story 
illustrates  the  methods  of  suburban  ruffianism,  it  may  be  worth 
relating :  "  Shortly  after  midnight,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  patrol- 
man Anson  M.  Grover  found  Patrick  Conroy  drunk  and  behaving 
in  a  disorderly  manner  on  Grove  street.  He  took  him  under 
arrest,  and  proceeded  with  some  difficulty  for  a  short  distance, 
when  a  number  of  Conroy's  friends  interfered  and  began  throw- 
ing stones  at  the  policeman  with  the  intention  of  disabling  him 
and  thus  freeing  the  prisoner.  Two  of  the  stones  struck  the 
policeman  on  the  breast,  making  slight  wounds.  He  released  his 
prisoner  and  started  in  pursuit  of  the  stone-throwers,  on  the  way 
discharging  his  pistol  three  times,  aiming  directly  at  them.  No 
one  was  disabled,  however,  and  all  escaped,  making  their  way 
into  a  house  on  Barre  street,  occupied  by  a  widow  named  Dun- 
lavey.  Grover  now  called  patrolman  Sullivan,  who  notified 
Lieutenant  Magill  and  also  Sergeant  White  at  the  Sixth  Station. 
At  1.30  the  Lieutenant,  accompanied  by  a  party  of  policemen, 
visited  the  Dunlavey  residence  and  searched  the  premises,  but  no 


WILLIAM  H.  ROWE, 
Sergeant  of  the  Sixth  District. 


OUR   POLICE.  337 

trace  of  the  ruffians  could  be  found,  as  they  had  evidently  es- 
caped by  the  way  of  a  back  window.  A  watch  was  kept  while 
the  Lieutenant  returned  to  the  station  for  a  warrant  for  Patrick 
Conroy  on  the  charge  of  drunkenness.  Accompanied  by  patrol- 
men Cook,  Foye,  and  Rowe,  he  went  to  a  house  on  Barre  street, 
occupied  by  Conroy's  brother,  and  demanded  admission.  This 
was  refused,  and  the  officers  were  threatened  with  bodily  harm  if 
they  attempted  to  enter,  Conroy  claiming  they  had  no  warrant  to 
enter  his  house.  Some  women  inside  apparently  realized  the 
state  of  affiiirs,  and  unlocked  the  door.  As  the  policemen  en- 
tered they  were  met  at  the  threshold  by  Conroy,  who  held  an 
uplifted  axe,  with  which  he  endeavored  to  strike  patrolman  Cook. 
Rowe  and  Cook  disarmed  the  man  after  a  severe  tussle.  Then 
patrolmen  Foye  and  Rowe  made  their  way  up-stairs  and  secured 
Patrick.  Both  were  taken  to  the  station.  Patrick  Conroy,  in 
running  away  from  patrolman  Grover  at  the  beginning  of  the 
trouble,  was  a  target  for  one  of  the  three  shots  fired.  The  bullet 
entered  his  cheek  on  the  left  side,  and  penetrated  through  and 
out  on  the  right  side  beyond  the  nose,  making  a  clean,  though 
not  dangerous  wound. 

As  already  remarked,  such  instances  are  becoming  infrequent, 
but  they  show  what  policemen  have  to  meet  in  compelling  the  re- 
fractory element  to  recognize  the  supremacy  of  the  law,  and 
obey  the  ordinances  of  the  municipality. 

On  October  29,  1888,  the  Mayor  appointed  William  H.  Rowe 
to  be  a  sergeant  of  police  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resig- 
nation of  Sergeant  George  Crane, 'Jr. 


338  OUR   POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

SOME  INCIDENTS  OF  POLICE  EXPERIENCE. — THE  BEST  OFFICER  IS 
HE  WHO  PREVENTS  CRIME. — A  POLICEMAN'S  DESPERATE  EN- 
COUNTER WITH  A  MADMAN. — THE  MURDER  OF  JOHN  C.  RO- 
VELTO. — THE  BLOW  THAT  NEARLY  KILLED  OFFICER  GEORGE 
W.  BOWEN. — O'HARE  KILLED  BY  PATROLMAN  TYLER  IN  SELF- 
DEFENCE. — OFFICER  TRACY'S  CAPTURE  OF  HIGHWAY  ROBBER 
JOHN  CONNOLLY.  —  MOUNTED  OFFICER  BRADBURY  AND  HIS 
HANDSOME  "BESS." — A  LONG  CHASE  AFTER  FUGITIVE  THIEVES. 
—PATROLMAN  MADDEN  AND  THE  NORTH  END  RUFFIANS. — OF- 
FICER WILLIAM  GARDINER. — WHEN  NAHUM  WILLARD  WAS  ON 
THE  OLD  WATCH.  —  VETERAN  OFFICERS  CHARLES  B.  BAIRD, 
JOSEPH  B.  CURTIS,  DANIEL  T.  COLWELL,  VARNUM  FULLER, 
HIRAM  HART  AND  JAMES  H.  WILBUR. — CAPTAIN  SANDERS  AND 
THE  OLD  WATCH. — EX-CAPTAIN  NEWHALL. — OTHER  RETIRED 
OFFICERS. 

It  does  not  follow  that  because  a  policeman  has  never  made 
an  important  arrest,  or  been  engaged  in  a  memorable  encounter 
with  ruffian  violence,  that  he  is  either  unworthy,  or  has  failed  in 
his  duty.  While  the  officer  who  grasps  the  opportunity  deserves 
to  be  honored  and  commended,  yet,  if  the  opportmnity  does  not 
offer,  his  intrinsic  merit  and  real  value  are  the  same.  The  soldier 
who  walks  his  monotonous  round  in  the  dull  security  of  an  inte- 
rior fort,  may  be  as  brave,  patriotic  and  deserving  as  he  who  faces 
the  fiery  hail  at  the  battle  front,  and  wins  lasting  glory  at  the 
expense  of  danger,  perhaps  by  the  loss  of  life.  So  with  the 
patrolman.  One  may  trudge  his  beat  for  years,  ever  on  the  alert, 
ever  ready  to  detect  and  confront  the  enemies  of  the  society  it  is 
his  duty  to  protect ;  but  it  happens,  maybe,  that  outlaws  avoid 
his  locality ;  perhaps  his  very  vigilance  deters  them,  and  prevents 
him  from  earning  distinction.  And  it  is  to  an  officer's  credit  that 
criminals  shun  his  beat ;  that  his  days  or  nights  are  blanks  so 


OUR   POLICE.  339 

far  as  the  violation  of  law  is  concerned ;  for  it  should  never  be 
forgotten  that  a  policeman's  first  duty  is  to  prevent  crime,  if 
possible,  then,  if  committed,  to  detect  and  bring  to  justice  the 
criminal.  Nevertheless  a  history  of  the  police  which  should 
pass  over  in  silence,  conspicuous  instances  of  meritorious  service 
would  be  failing  in  the  first  mark  of  a  veracious  and  trustworthy 
record  Many  of  the  more  brilliant  exploits  of  the  police  are 
treated  of  in  other  chapters,  in  connection  with  the  details  of 
famous  criminal  cases ;  but  there  are  other  and  striking  instances 
of  the  dangers  incident  to  a  policeman's  career,  which  ought  not 
to  go  unchronicled. 

One  of  the  most  desperate  encounters  on  record  between  a 
police  officer  and  a  criminal,  or  rather  a  madman,  was  that  of 
patrolman  James  Ash,  of  the  Third  Precinct,  when  he  strove  to 
save  John  C.  Rovelto  from  the  crazy,  and,  as  it  proved,  the  fatal 
violence  of  Edward  Turner.  The  terrible  event  occurred  in  the 
early  morning  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  1887. 

Henry  Jackson  and  his  wife  resided  on  the  north  side  of  Meet- 
ing street;  with  them  boarded  Mr.  Jackson's  nephew,  Edward 
Turner.  Mr.  Jackson  was  an  invalid,  confined  to  his  bed  by  heart 
disease  and  dropsy.  Members  of  the  Lincoln  Association,  of 
which  Rovelto  was  a  member,  took  turns  in  watching  with  their 
brother.  On  Thursday  evening,  March  23d,  it  became  the  turn 
of  Mr.  Rovelto  to  watch  with  him.  He  reached  the  house  at 
9.30  o'clock,  and  Mrs.  Jackson  withdrew  to  one  of  the  sleeping- 
rooms.  At  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  one  of  the  windows  in  the 
Jackson  tenement  was  thrown  up,  and  a  woman's  voice  screamed, 
"Murder!  Help!  Watch!"  Patrolman  James  Ash  was  at  that 
moment  walking  on  Thayer  street,  and  he  heard  the  cry  for  help. 
•  Hurrying  to  the  house  he  made  his  way  to  the  Jackson  tenement, 
where  he  found  Turner,  with  nothing  on  but  his  under-clothing, 
frantically  pounding  the  head  of  Rovelto  on  the  threshold  of  the 
door  of  the  sick  man's  chamber.  Ash  immediately  grappled  with 
the  infuriated  negro.  Then  followed  a  fearful  struggle.  Turner 
fought  like  a  demon.  He  struck  the  officer  in  the  face  repeat- 
edly ;  he  clawed  and  tore  him  with  the  fury  of  desperation ;  but, 
despite  all  his  furious  eflforts,  he  could  not  release  himself  from 


840  OUR   POLICE. 

the  hold  of  the  plucky  policeman.  Pieces  of  furniture  that  came 
within  reach  the  madman  used  as  weapons,  and  a  cut-glass  vase, 
which  stood  on  a  sideboard  at  one  end  of  the  kitchen,  he  broke 
on  the  officer's  head.  Slowly  the  men  fought  and  struggled 
toward  the  entry  door;  and,  when  once  there,  officer  Ash  could 
handle  his  man  to  better  advantage,  because  there  was  nothing 
that  Turner  could  make  use  of  as  a  weapon.  In  the  hallway  Ash 
applied  the  twisters,  but  in  the  struggle  Turner  broke  them,  and 
again  the  fight  continued  as  desperately  as  before.  At  last  two 
or  three  neighbors  came  to  the  officer's  assistance,  and  the  negro, 
foaming  at  the  mouth  with  baffled  rage,  was  overpowered  and 
taken  to  the  Third  Police  Station.  While  the  battle  was  going 
on  between  Ash  and  the  madman  Rovelto  expired.  The  victim 
was  a  well-known  and  highly  respected  colored  janitor,  by  birth 
a  Malay,  and  the  deed  entirely  motiveless  on  the  part  of  the 
homicide. 

Mr.  Ash,  however,  was  fortunate,  compared  with  patrolman 
George  W.  Bowen,  of  the  Sixth  Station.  A  few  years  ago  Mr. 
Bowen  was  a  type  of  manly  physique.  His  handsome  features 
beamed  with  good  nature  and  conscious  energy,  and  the  force  had 
no  finer  mounted  policeman.  To-day,  though'  able  to  do  good 
service,  he  is  sadly  marred.  The  only  wonder  is  that  he  is  alive 
at  all.  On  the  twentieth  of  April,  1884,  Officer  Bowen  attempted 
to  arrest  a  young  man  named  Peter  McKenna,  who  was  misbe- 
having on  Atwell's  avenue.  McKenna,  a  powerful  young  man  of 
twenty-two,  resisted  forcibly.  Mounted  policeman  Foye  came  to 
his  partner's  assistance.  A  mob  gathered  around  the  officers  and 
the  struggling  prisoner,  and  cheered  on  McKenna  in  his  efforts 
for  liberation.  Just  as  the  policemen  were  putting  the  handcuffs 
on  the  prisoner,  a  large  stone,  hurled  apparently  from  the  centre 
of  the  street,  struck  Mr.  Bowen  fairly  in  the  right  eye,  the  blow 
sounding  like  the  stroke  of  a  hammer.  The  officer  released  his 
grasp,  and  staggered  back  against  a  fence.  At  this  moment  Ser- 
geant Crane  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  the  mob  promptly  dis- 
persed. McKenna  was  taken  to  the  station-house,  and  Officer 
Bowen  was  conveyed  to  the  Rhode  Island  Hospital  by  Chief 
Child  and  patrolman  Allen.     His  mind  wandered,  and  for  a  long 


OUR   POLICE.     •  341 

time  he  lay  between  life  and  death.  At  length  the  officer 
recovered,  but  to  his  dying  day  his  face  will  bear  the  mark  of  the 
stone.  To  Detective  Swan  and  Officer  Isaac  Fairbrother  was 
due  the  capture  of  the  ruffian  who  threw  the  missile  with  such 
cruel  result.  On  the  Tuesday  following,  a  man  answering  the 
reported  description  of  the  assailant,  attempted  to  take  a  train 
for  Connecticut.  He  was  arrested  on  a  guess,  and  the  guess 
proved  correct.  Flood  confessed  the  crime,  was  indicted,  and 
sentenced  to  two  years  in  State  Prison. 

Patrolman  Thomas  D.  Tyler,  when  assaulted  on  Atwell's  ave- 
nue, August  20,  1883,  resisted  so  effectively  that  he  killed  the 
prisoner  who  had  joined  in  the  attack  upon  him.  The  officer, 
who  was  patrolling  the  avenue,  directed  a  disorderly  crowd  to 
move  on,  advising  one  of  them,  James  O'Hare,  whom  he  knew 
by  sight,  to  go  home.  O'Hare  refusing,  and  uttering  offensive 
language,  Mr.  Tyler  undertook  to  arrest  him.  A  crowd  of  roughs 
gathered  to  the  rescue,  and  kicks  and  blows  w^ere  showered  upon 
the  patrolman.  Mr.  Tyler,  bruised  and  almost  beaten  to  the 
ground,  thinking  his  assailants  meant  to  kill  him,  drew  his 
revolver  and  fired.  The  crowd  scattered  just  as  Captain  Cory, 
with  four  men,  arrived  at  the  scene.  O'Hare  had  escaped  into 
the  house  of  a  relative,  but  he  carried  with  him  the  fatal  bullet. 
As  for  patrolman  Tyler,  the  marks  of  kicks  and  bruises  told 
plainly  the  provocation  which  had  compelled  the  use  of  a  deadly 
weapon.  O'Hare  died,  and  the  coroner's  jury  found  that  the 
officer  had  acted  in  self-defence. 

A  policeman  who  has  had  many  encounters  with  the  ruffians 
of  Providence,  in  which  the  latter  have  invariably  been  worsted, 
is  officer  Jack  Tracy,  as  he  is  familiarly  known.  Bluff,  frank 
and  fearless,  Mr.  Tracy  also  possesses  a  good  deal  of  detective 
shrewdness,  and  he  has  made  some  arrests  that  required  not  only 
courage  but  wit.  The  most  noteworthy  of  these  was  nearly 
twenty  years  ago,  when  Mr.  Tracy  took  John  Connolly,  the 
leader  in  a  cowardly  and  flagrant  highway  robbery  in  the  very 
heart  of  Providence.  About  9  o'clock,  on  the  evening  of  April 
12, 1869,  as  Mr.  Bartlett  Tierney  was  turning  into  Fulton  street 
from  Exchange  place,  on  his  way  to  his  home  in  South  Provi- 


342  OUR   POLICE. 

dence,  he  was  accosted  by  three  men,  one  of  whom  asked  him  the 
time  of  night ;  Mr.  Tierney  obligingly  drew  his  watch  from  his 
vest  pocket,  and  while  he  was  noting  the  time  by  the  dim  light 
of  a  street  lantern,  one  of  the  party,  John  Connolly,  struck  the 
old  man  a  violent  blow  in  the  face,  that  prostrated  him.  Then 
all  three  of  the  ruffians  pounced  upon  him,  robbed  him  of  his 
watch  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  escaped  with  their 
booty.  All  this  was  done  so  quickly  and  so  quietly  that  the 
police  were  not  alarmed,  and  their  first  knowledge  of  the  affair 
was  an  hour  afterwards,  when  Mr.  Tierney,  bruised  and  bleed- 
ing, entered  the  Central  Station.  Detective  Swan  was  imme- 
diately assigned  to  the  case.  Connolly's  accomplices  were  two 
noted  thieves,  named  Owen  McCarron  and  John  Glancy.  Owen 
McCarron  was  the  first  of  the  ruffians  arrested.  He  was  bound 
over  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  Nearly  two  months  elapsed 
before  a  correct  clue  to  Connolly's  whereabouts  could  be  obtained. 
Detective  Swan  learned  through  a  trustworthy  source,  that  Con- 
nolly was  at  work  in  the  Phoenix  Print  Works,  Phoenix,  R.  I., 
under  the  assumed  name  of  John  O'Neil.  With  Detective  John 
M.  Knowles,  Officer  Tracy  and  several  other  policemen,  Mr. 
Swan  went  to  Phoenix.  The  Phoenix  Print  Works  are  situated 
in  a  valley.  Mr.  Swan  so  posted  his  pickets  on  the  brow  of  the 
hill  that  they  could  command  a  view  of  either  side  of  the  factory, 
in  the  event  of  Connolly  taking  the  alarm,  and  jumping  from  one 
of  th6  windows.  Connolly  knew  Mr.  Swan  by  sight,  but  the 
detective  did  not  know  him,  so  to  Mr.  Tracy  was  allotted  the 
task  of  entering  the  mill  and  arresting  the  man.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  identification,  Mr.  Swan  was  accompanied  by  a  man  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Connolly.  This  man  was  hidden  behind 
a  stone  wall.  The  rear  part  of  a  shed  rested  on  this  wall,  and  a 
hole  was  made  in  the  wall  through  which  the  man,  in  hiding, 
could  look  and  see  all  that  was  going  on  under  the  shed.  When 
all  was  in  readiness,  Mr.  Tracy  went  to  the  office  of  the  Print 
Works  and  stated  his  business  to  a  member  of  the  firm.  The 
latter  sent  the  clerk  with  Mr.  Tracy  to  point  out  the  person  in 
the  work-shop.  This  the  clerk  did  through  a  little  peep-hole, 
from  an  adjoining  room,  near  to  where  *'  O'Neil "  was  employed. 


OUR   POLICE.  343 

Mr.  Tracy  entered  the  shop  nonchalantly,  and  strolled  slowly 
along,  stopping  to  view  the  working  of  the  machinery.  He 
finally  halted  near  the  man  pointed  out  to  him,  and  who  evi- 
dently was  the  person  Mr.  Swan  wanted.  Mr.  Tracy  carried  a 
pair  of  hand-cuffs  in  his  right  coat-pocket,  open  and  ready  for 
instant  use.  He  inquired  of  the  fellow,  while  edging  closer  to 
him,  about  the  working  of  the  machine.  Then,  as  Connolly — for 
him  it  proved  to  be — was  in  the  act  of  explaining,  the  officer 
seized  the  handcuffs  from  his  pocket,  and  quickly  snapped  them 
on  the  wrists  of  the  astonished  criminal.  Mr.  Tracy  marched 
his  prisoner  from  the  shop  without  much  trouble,  although  the 
latter  protested  it  was  an  outrage  and  that  they  had  got  the  wrong 
man,  and  that  he,  Tracy,  would  find  it  out  to  his  sorrow.  The 
captive  was  halted  under  the  shed,  where  all  the  officers  had 
gathered,  upon  observing  Tracy  coming  forth  from  the  Works 
with  the  prisoner.  Mr.  Swan  turned,  slyly,  toward  the  hole  in 
the  wall,  and  he  saw  the  watcher  nod  his  head,  indicating  that 
they  had  arrested  the  right  man.  The  watcher  did  not  want 
Connolly  to  know  that  he  had  informed  on  him,  as  he  feared  the 
desperado.  Connolly  was  tried,  found  guilty  of  highway  rob- 
bery, and  sentenced  to  the  State  Prison  for  twelve  years.  Mc- 
Carron  got  five  years,  and  Glancy  was  never  heard  of  again  in 
Providence. 

Mounted  Officer  Joseph  Bradbury  has  a  rare  ally  in  his  hand- 
some and  docile  "Bess,"  who  bears  him  on  his  rounds,  and  dis- 
plays an  almost  human  intelligence  in  the  pursuit  of  offenders. 
Joe's  devotion  to  his  faithful  horse  is  only  surpassed  by  his  devo- 
tion to  duty,  and  the  name  of  the  animal  recalls  a  memorable 
occasion  in  which  several  Providence  officers,  as  well  as  Mr. 
Bradbury's  horse,  proved  their  mettle  and  staying  power.  On 
January  28,  1884,  Detective  Parker  attempted  to  arrest  three 
men,  on  Washington  street,  named  Henry  Randall,  Frank  Eddy, 
and  David  M.  Eddy,  sneak  thieves,  who  were  endeavoring  to 
dispose  of  a  horse,  wagon,  and  several  robes,  stolen  at  Attleboro, 
Mass.  Detective  Parker  kept  up  a  running  fight  with  the  fel- 
lows, who  were  trying  to  escape  by  lashing  their  horses  into  a 
gallop.     Several  times  the  detective,  while  trying  to  climb  into  the 


344  OUR    POLICE. 

wagon,  was  struck  in  the  face  by  the  butt  end  of  a  whip-stock,  in 
the  hands  of  one  of  the  desperadoes.  They  got  away,  and  Mr. 
Parker,  procuring  a  team  as  soon  as  possible,  began  pursuit.  Mr. 
Bradbury,  hearing  the  fact,  immediately  joined  in  the  hue  and 
cry.  The  thieves  in  the  meantime  had  a  good  start.  Bess  dashed 
along  nobly,  and  Bradbury  at  length  sighted  the  fugitives.  They 
had  by  this  time  got  as  far  as  Lime  Rock,  ten  miles  away.  Sight- 
ing the  officer  in  pursuit,  they  lashed  their  weary  beast  into  a 
run  again.  But  Bess  and  her  gallant  rider  lessened  the  distance 
between  them  at  every  leap.  Seeing  that  escape  was  impossible, 
two  of  the  thieves  jumped  out  of  the  vehicle  and  clambered  over 
a  stone  wall.  Bess  and  her  rider  overtook  the  wagon,  and  Mr. 
Parker,  with  Detective  Swan  and  Lieutenant  Edward  O'Neil, 
coming  up  at  this  juncture,  gave  their  attention  to  the  vehicle, 
while  Bradbury  turned  his  horse  in  the  direction  of  the  fleeing 
pair.  Bess  cleared  the  wall,  and  before  the  two  men  could  reach 
the  shelter  of  the  trees  toward  which  they  were  running,  Brad- 
bury thundered  by  them,  and,  immediately  wheeling  Bess  to  block 
their  further  progress,  commanded  them  to  throw  up  their  hands 
and  surrender.  The  fellows  saw  that  refusal  would  react  upon 
themselves,  gave  in,  and  were  marched  on  ahead  of  Bess  to  the 
wagon.  They  were  convicted  of  assault  on  an  officer,  and  re- 
ceived a  sentence  to  State  Prison.  After  their  sentence  had  ex- 
pired here  they  were  turned  over  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities, 
convicted  of  larceny,  and  served  another  term  for  that  offense. 
When,  after  the  destructive  fire  of  February  15th  last,  officer 
Bradbury,  after  a  night's  hard  service,  fell  unconscious  on  his 
post,  the  faithful  mare  was  found  standing  over  him,  watching,  as 
if  to  guard  him  from  harm. 

No  patrolman  has  encountered  more  blows  at  the  hands  of 
North  End  ruffians  than  Michael  Madden,  who,  for  upwards  of 
eleven  years,  has  patrolled  in  that  district.  Tall  and  brawny  in 
frame,  Mr.  Madden  never  shrinks  from  facing  the  lawless  element, 
and  although  sometimes  severely  used,  he  has  never  cried, 
"  Enough  !*'  On  one  occasion  a  rough  character  pounded  Mr. 
Madden's  head  with  a  stone,  the  officer  retaliating  with  his  club, 
until  both  were  helpless,  and  the  police  ambulance  carried  away 


OUR    POLICE.  345 

both  policeman  and  prisoner.  Several  weeks  elapsed  before  Mr. 
Madden  was  again  able  for  patrol  duty.  On  the  23d  of  April? 
1879,  officer  Madden  arrested  Margaret  Shaw,  who  killed  her 
husband,  John  Shaw,  by  chopping  his  head  nearly  off  with  an 
axe.     She  died  in  State  Prison,  under  a  life  sentence. 

There  is  no  better-known  patrolman  than  Officer  William  Gar- 
diner. Born  June  18,  1842,  at  South  Glastonbury,  Connecticut. 
Mr.  Gardiner,  four  months  later,  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
was  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  among  both  his  paternal  and 
maternal  relatives,  and  has  ever  since  resided  here.  He  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Manville,  Central  Falls  and  Paw- 
tucket,  Rhode  Island,  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen  graduated  from 
Wilkinson's  Academy,  Seekonk,  Massachusetts,  in  the  year  1855. 
October  29,  1861,  Mr.  Gardiner  enlisted  as  a  private  in  F  Troop, 
First  New  England  Cavalry,  the  name  of  which  was  changed  after- 
wards to  the  First  Rhode  Island  Cavalry.  He  was  promoted  to 
corporal,  sergeant,  and  first  sergeant,  and  participated  with  his 
regiment  in  the  following  compaigns :  Shield's,  Pope's,  McClel- 
lan's,  Burnside's  Hooker's  Meade's,  Sheridan's  and  Grant's, 
covering  a  service  of  forty-six  months.  Mr.  Gardiner  served  in 
the  following*  general  engagements  :  Cedar  Mountain,  August  9, 
1862 ;  Groveton,  August  28,  '62 ;  Second  Bull  Run,  August  30, 
'62 ;  Chantilly,  September  1,  '62 :  Antietam,  September  17,  '62 ; 
Fredericksburg,  December,  13,  '62;  Kelly's  Ford,  March  17, 
1863 ;  Brandy  Station,  June  9,  '63 ;  Middleburg,  June  17,  '63. 
In  this  engagement  he  was  captured,  taken  to  Richmond  by  the 
enemy,  and  shut  up  in  Libby,  and  Belle  Isle  Prisons.  After 
forty-six  days  imprisonment  he  was  paroled  and  sent  to  Annapo- 
lis, Maryland,  and  exchanged  the  following  August,  reporting  for 
duty  during  the  engagement  of  September  14,  at  Rapidan  Station, 
Virginia ;  during  the  remainder  of  1863,  and  up  to  September 
1864,  Mr.  Gardiner  was  in  several  minor  cavalry  engagements. 
September  19,  '64,  under  Sheridan,  he  shared  in  the  thorough 
and  complete  victory  at  Winchester,  and  October  9,  at  Fisher's 
Hill.  Oh  October  19,  Mr.  Gardiner  was  at  Cedar  Creek,  "with 
Sheridan  twenty  miles  away,"  at  the  opening  of  the  battle. 
Altogether,  during  his  army  service,  Mr.  Gardiner  was  in  twenty- 


846  OUR   POLICE. 

six  engagements.  Since  the  war  he  has  been  chosen  to  every  of- 
fice from  a  position  upon  the  Executive  Committee,  to  that  of 
Vice  President,  Secretary  and  President  in  his  Regimental  Vet- 
eran Association.  For  five  years  he  has  filled,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  comrades,  the  office  of  secretary.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Soldier's  and  Sailor's  Historical  Society,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  of 
Slocum  Post,  No.  10,  Department  of  Rhode  Island,  G.  A.  R., 
and  Aide-de-camp  upon  the  Department  Commander's  Staff.  Mr. 
Gardiner  joined  the  Police  Department,  April,  1875,  and  for 
four  years  patrolled  in  the  Third  District.  In  1879,  he  was 
transferred  to  the  First  District,  where  he  has  since  remained. 
He  has  served  the  Police  Association  as  Director,  Vice  President 
for  three  years,  and  as  President,  two  years.  His  present  beat 
is  on  the  Great  Bridge,  where  he  is  a  model,  alike  of  courtesy 
and  of  vigilance. 

Among  the  veterans  of  the  force  still  on  duty,  whose  years  of 
good  service  merit  honorable  mention,  is  Nahum  Willard,  whose 
police  service  dates  back  to  the  old  watch,  long  before  the  war. 
Nahum  has  done  valuable  work  since  the  organization  of  the 
police ;  but  no  achievement  of  his  elicited  more  commendation, 
or  effected  more  public  benefit,  than  the  breaking  up  of  a  robber 
gang  that  infested  the  city  about  thirty  years  ago.  In  the  years 
1856  and  1857  large  quantities  of  goods  were  stolen  from  the 
Rhode  Island  Bleachery.  One  night  watchman  Willard  noticed 
a  reputed  thief  named  Carroll  staggering  along  under  the  weight 
of  a  large  bundle.  Carroll  discovered  the  officer  at  the  same 
time,  and  dodged  into  the  shadow  of  the  Steam  Mill  boarding- 
house.  Willard  ran  and  collared  the  fellow,  who  showed  fight, 
but  was  soon  overpowered  by  the  stalwart  policeman.  Carroll 
was  taken  to  the  Fifth  Station,  on  Richmond  street.  He  denied 
having  had  anything  in  his  possession  when  seen  by  the  officer ; 
but  on  going  to  the  place  where  the  arrest  was  made,  Nahum 
found  three  or  four  cuts  of  cotton  cloth.  Owing  to  remarks  let 
drop  by  Carroll,  search  was  made  for  other  plunder,  and  in  a 
hayfield  adjoining  the  Sailors'  Home  cotton  goods  to  a  consider- 
able value  were  found  secreted  beneath  haycocks.  Carroll  was 
convicted  and  sent  to  jail  for  three  years.     In  the  fall  of  1857  a 


OUR   POLICE.  347 

number  of  stores  in  lower  South  Providence  were  broken  into  and 
robbed.  Officer  Thomas  T.  Waite  and  Mr.  Willard,  both  of  the 
watch  at  that  time,  were  detailed  to  hunt  the  thieves.  The  two 
watchmen  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  headquarters  of  the 
criminal  gang  were  in  the  Sailors'  Hospital,  on  the  present  site  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Hospital ;  also,  that  the  robbers  were  led  by 
Frank  Howard,  a  notorious  lawbreaker.  The  officers  kept  a  vigi- 
lant watch  for  several  nights,  but,  despite  their  vigilance,  several 
stores  were  entered  and  robbed.  One  night  William  Y.  Ashton's 
store  was  broken  into,  and  one  hundred  pairs  of  ladies'  and  chil- 
dren's shoes,  a  case  of  boots,  and  other  goods  were  stolen.  Waite 
and  Willard  traced  the  thieves  to  a  barn  on  Lockwood  street, 
about  3  o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  detail  from  the  Fifth  Police 
Station  surrounded  the  place  and  arrested  five  of  the  robbers, 
who  were  sleeping  in  the  barn  at  the  time.  Frank  Howard, 
chief  of  the  depredators,  was  captured  with  the  rest.  They  were 
all  bound  over  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  While  awaiting 
trial,  Howard  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  by  scaling  the 
prison  wall ;  the  others  were  sentenced  to  State  Prison.  A  vast 
amount  of  goods,  stolen  by  the  gang  at  different  times,  was  found 
secreted  in  Hugh  Holland's  house,  on  Plain  street,  between 
feather  beds,  and  in  a  Mrs.  Dolan's  house,  on  the  same  street. 
In  the  winter  of  1862  Captain  Gross  called  Mr.  Willard  into  his 
office  and  told  him  that  thieves  were  stealing  from  the  Sprague 
Stone  House,  near  Point  street,  whole  bales  of  goods  disappearing 
in  one  night.  For  several  weeks  officers  Willard  and  Joe  Davis 
watched  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Stone  House.  Finally  their  vigils 
were  rewarded.  One  night,  while  concealed  at  the  corner  of  Ship 
and  Richmond  streets,  they  observed  a  horse  and  wagon  approach- 
ing. The  vehicle  contained  three  men,  and  was  being  driven 
slowly  along  Richmond  street.  When  it  arrived  opposite  the 
officers'  place  of  concealment,  the  latter  sprang  out  and  ordered 
the  fellows  to  hold  up.  Instead  of  complying  with  the  request, 
the  strangers  whipped  up  the  horse.  Willard  and  his  companion 
gave  chase,  and  followed  the  fugitives  up  Broad  street,  where,  in 
turning  a  sharp  corner,  the  wagon  was  upset.  When  the  watch- 
men arrived  on  the  spot,  one  of  the  thieves  had  escaped :  the 


348  OUR   POLICE. 

other  two  were  pinned  down  by  the  bales  of  goods  falling  on 
them.  They  were  extricated  and  placed  under  arrest.  The  one 
that  escaped  was  subsequently  arrested.  Three  bales  of  print 
goods,  valued  at  $1,500,  were  recovered.  The  trio  were  each 
sentenced  to  three  years  in  prison. 

Other  veteran  officers,  well  versed  in  the  old-time  traditions, 
are  Charles  B.  Baird,  appointed  on  the  force  in  1866,  and  for 
seventeen  years  on  the  important  beat  which  includes  the  wharf 
of  the  Continental  Steamboat  Company ;  Joseph  B.  Curtis,  a 
veteran  of  the  Rhode  Island  Second  Hegiment,  in  which  he  won 
the  stripes  of  a  sergeant ;  appointed  in  1865,  and  who  for  many 
years  has  patrolled  lower  Canal  street  and  vicinity,  and  guarded 
the  numerous  and  busy  merchants  from  depredation ;  Daniel  T. 
Colwell,  of  the  Second,  appointed  in  1866 ;  Varnum  Fuller,  of 
twenty  years'  faithful  standing ;  Hiram  Hart,  for  thirty  years  a 
gu^irdian  of  the  city,  and  a  brother  of  the  last  City  Marshal  of 
Providence;  and  ex-sergeant  James  H.  Wilbur,  who  did  good 
work  for  nearly  nineteen  years.  For  almost  a  generation  these 
men  have  been  a  part  of  our  city's  history.  Some  of  them  are 
still  in  the  vigor  of  life ;  in  others  the  stiffening  knee  and  bleach- 
ing locks  testify  that  old  age  is  approaching,  and  that  the  day 
may  not  be  far  distant  when  the  final  roll-call  will  be  heard.  It 
surely  becomes  a  liberal  and  just  municipality  that  they  who  have 
given  youth  to  its  service  shall  not  endure  the  pangs  of  want  when 
nature's  course  will  deprive  them  of  the  ability  to  serve  any 
longer. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  superannuated.  Captain  James 
Wilbur  Sanders  was  born  May  4,  1817,  at  No.  70  South  street, 
in  this  city.  His  father  was  on  the  town  watch  about  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  and  his  *' All's  well !"  assured  security  to  the  mid- 
night slumber  of  many  who  long  ago  lapsed  into  final  sleep. 
Mr.  Sanders  acted  as  a  substitute  for  Captain  Allen,  and  was  on 
the  watch  more  or  less  until  1840,  when  he  was  appointed  per- 
manently. In  November,  1853,  when  the  city  was  divided  into 
five  police  districts,  Mr.  Sanders  was  appointed  Sergeant  of  the 
First  District.  In  June,  1864,  he  was  appointed  Sergeant  at  the 
Fifth  Station,  on  Richmond  street.    He  was  promoted  to  Captain 


OUR  POLICE.  349 

January  7,  1885,  and  retired  on  thirty-three  dollars  a  month, 
August  1,  1879.  Over  seventy  years  of  age,  Captain  Sanders 
still  shows  the  excellent  constitution  which  stood  him  in  good 
stead  in  the  days  of  the  old  watch.  He  made  a  number  of  note- 
worthy arrests  in  his  day.  The  principal  of  these  was  the  capture 
of  three  burglars,  Greenwood,  Richard,  and  "  Sixteen-string 
Jack,"  who  robbed  the  Winsted  (Conn.)  Bank  of  several  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  were  preparing,  when  taken,  to  make  atteijipts 
on  Providence  banks,  having  already  called  at  several  to  get  bills 
changed,  and  obtained  impressions  in  wax  of  the  locks.  Captain 
Sanders  was  never  afraid  to  do  his  duty,  and  when  a  giant  Welsh- 
man stunned  him  for  a  moment  with  a  four- feet  stick  of  cord-wood, 
he  rose  and  grappled  with  his  assailant  until  other  watchmen 
came  to  the  rescue. 

Benjamin  A.  Newhall,  formerly  a  captain  of  police,  was  bom 
in  Berkeley,  May  13,  1823.  He  came  to  this  city  when  sixteen 
years  old,  and,  after  working  as  a  carpenter  for  a  few  years,  was 
appointed  on  the  watch,  being  twenty-four  years  old  when  first 
appointed.  He  served  under  all  the  mayors  except  Mayor  Bridge- 
ham,  and,  after  many  years  of  duty  as  night  patrolman,  was 
appointed  Sergeant.  As  related  elsewhere,  Mr.  Newhall  was 
with  watchman  Pullen  on  the  night  when  that  officer  was  mur- 
dered. Mr.  Newhall  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  January  7, 
1875,  and  retired  on  $33  a  month,  April  5,  1888. 

Theodore  Rutherford  is  another  veteran;  born  in  Bristol, 
Rhode  Island,  in  1824.  He  was  appointed  on  the  watch,  June 
11,  1855,  and  on  the  present  force,  October  17,  1864.  Retired 
April  5,  1888,  on  thirty-three  dollars  a  month.  Josiah  Bennett, 
born  in  Foster,  Rhode  Island,  in  1819 ;  served  on  the  old  watch 
May  20,  1862,  and  since  on  the  police.  Retired,  April  5,  1888, 
on  thirty-three  dollars  a  month.  William  J.  Booth,  a  native  of 
Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  born  in  1824,  and  appointed  patrolman 
August  15,  1865.  Lorenzo  D.  Prosser,  born  in  Paris,  New  York, 
in  1835,  appointed  on  the  force  July  11,  1866,  and  Joseph  W. 
Pratt,  born  in  Hebron,  New  Hampshire,  in  1821 ;  appointed  on 
the  force,  September  2,  1868,  are  all  retired  on  thirty- three  dol- 
lars a  month. 


350  OUR  POLICE. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE  PROVIDENCE  POLICE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  GOOD  WORK  IT  HAS 
DONE. — MAYOR  DOYLE  AND  THE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  ASSOCIA- 
TION CHARTERED  AND  ORGANIZED. — GRADUAL  INCREASE  IN 
THE  AMOUNT  OF  BENEFITS. — NO  CARPING  TECHNICALITY  IN 
THE  EXTENSION  OF  AID. — THE  LIBERALITY  OF  PRIVATE  CITI- 
ZENS.— PAST  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. — THE  PRESIDENT, 
VICE-PRESIDENT,  TREASURER,  SECRETARY  AND  DIRECTORS  FOR 
1888. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  sum  dispensed  by  the  city  to  retired 
members  of  the  police  force  is  far  from  being  adequate  to  the 
proper  support  of  such  members  and  of  their  families.  Here  it 
is  that  the  Providence  Police  Association  steps  in,  and  by  sub- 
stantially doubling  the  income  of  retired  officers,  who  are  also 
members  of  the  Association,  enables  the  veterans  to  live  in  com- 
parative comfort.  The  good  done  by  this  Association  since  its 
foundation  cannot  be  calculated  merely  in  dollars  and  cents.  It 
has  brought  cheer  to  many  a  stricken  home,  and  shed  consolation 
on  the  last  hours  of  many  a  dying  officer,  by  its  assurance  that 
those  near  and  dear  to  him  would  not  be  abandoned  to  penury. 
The  late  Mayor  Doyle  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  purposes 
of  the  Association,  and  a  watchful  guardian  of  its  interests ;  and 
he  took  public  occasion  to  speak  clearly  and  forcibly  as  to  the 
claims  of  the  police  upon  the  consideration  of  the  community, 
whose  faithful  servants  they  are,  and  whose  interests  they  pro- 
tect, at  the  risk  of  life  and  limb,  in  a  sense  which  applies  to 
no  other  vocation,  save  those  of  the  soldier  and  of  the  fireman. 

A  charter  was  granted  to  the  Association  by  the  General  As- 
sembly on  March  9,  1870.  It  provided  that  "  The  following 
members  of  the  police  force  of  the  City  of  Providence,  namely : 
Benjamin  A.  Newhall,  Joseph  Marston,  Benjamin  11.  Child, 
Seth  L.  Horton,  John  T.  Brown,  William  H.  Cory,  Joseph  W. 


RICHARD  A.  CLARK, 
President  of  the  Providence  Police  Association. 


t      ot 


OUR  POLICB.  363 

Pratt,  together  with  such  others  only  as  now  are,  or  may  hereafter 
under  the  ordinances  of  said  city  be  nominated  and  confirmed  as 
members  of  the  police  force  of  the  said  city,  and  who  shall  com- 
ply with  the  rules  and  By-Laws  of  said  association,  and  pay  such 
dues  and  assessments  as  may  be  imposed  by  said  Association,  are 
hereby  created  a  body  politic  and  corporate  by  the  name  of  '  The 
Providence  Police  Association.'  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  aid 
and  assistance  as  may  be  provided  for  by  the  By-Laws  of  said 
Association,  to  persons  who  are  authorized  to  become  members 
of  this  corporation,  and  who  may  have  been  injured  or  disabled 
in  the  line  of  their  duty,  or  who,  by  reason  of  sickness  or  other 
misfortune,  or  of  the  death  of  a  wife,  shall  be  in  need  of  aid  and 
assistance,  and  also  to  such  other  person  or  persons,  being  the 
widow,  children,  assigns,  or  devisees  of  any  such  member,  as  the 
By-Laws  of  said  association  may  permit ;  and  by  that  name  shall 
be  capable  to  take,  hold,  and  convey  real  and  personal  estate,  to 
an  amount  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  said  real 
and  personal  estate  shall  be  exempt  from  taxation,  and  shall  be 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  and  subject  to  all  the  liabilities  set 
forth  in  Chapter  152  of  the  Public  Statutes,  and  all  Acts  in 
amendment  thereof  or  in  addition  thereto,  so  far  as  the  same  are 
applicable  to  a  charitable  or  benevolent  association." 

On  July  12,  1871,  the  Association  was  organized  by  the  elec- 
tion of  President,  William  H.  Cory ;  Vice-President,  Richmond 
J.  Stone;  Secretary,  William  H.  Ayer;  Treasurer,  John  M. 
Knowles.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  charter,  amendments  have 
been  made  as  follows  :  In  1879,  an  Act  was  passed  by  which  the 
property  of  the  Association  to  the  value  of  §50,000  was  exemp- 
ted from  taxation.  In  January,  1880,  an  amendment  was  made 
allowing  the  organization  to  continue  its  benefits  to  members  who 
may  be  honorably  retired  from  the  police  force  after  five  years' 
continuous  service.  Following  this,  in  1883,  a  desirable  change 
was  made  regarding  the  disposition  and  assignment  of  benefits. 

The  Association  extended  its  generosity  as  it  grew  in  ability. 
For  instance  the  widow  of  the  late  Chief  Gross,  who  died  in 
August,  1871,  received  $150.00 ;  in  April,  1872,  the  widow  of 
Simeon  Sherman  received  $248.00 ;  then  the  amount  of  death 


854  OUR   POLICE. 

payments  gradually  rose  to  $400.00,  in  1876,  remaining  at  that 
figure  until  1881,  when  $500.00  was  paid  to  the  widow  of  Wil- 
liam B.  Cranston.  From  that  period  until  May,  1887,  $700.00 
was  the  regular  death  allowance.  May  16,  1887,  it  was  voted 
that  "  one  thousand  dollars  be  paid  to  the  widow,  child  or  chil- 
dren, parent  or  parents,  brother  or  brothers,  sister  or  sisters  of 
such  member  instead  of  seven  hundred  dollars  as  heretofore." 
At  the  same  time  an  amendment  to  the  by-laws  was  adopted, 
requiring  members  to  pay  upon  entrance  the  sum  of  fifteen 
dollars  to  the  secretary. 

A  specified  sum  has  always  been  paid  on  the  death  of  the  wife 
of  a  member.  This  has  been  increased  from  time  to  time.  From 
the  organization  of  the  Association  to  January  14,  1878,  the 
sum  was  fixed  at  $100.00.  It  was  further  increased  to  $150.00, 
and  February  17,  1880,  to  $200.00,  the  sum  now  allowed.  Jan- 
uary 10,  1887,  an  amendment  was  made  to  the  by-laws,, whereby 
an  officer  is  required  to  serve  two  years  or  more  before  receiving 
the  last-named  sum.  The  sick  benefits  of  the  Association,  viz.  : 
One  dollar  per  day  after  sickness  of  one  week,  while  regular 
compensation  is  continued  by  the  city,  and  two  dollars  per  day 
when  such  pay  is  withdrawn,  remain  as  originally  fixed  by  the 
Association.  An  additional  cause  of  expense  to  the  Association 
is  the  reduction  of  the  limit  to  which  pay  has  been  allowed  by  the 
city,  from  fifteen  to  seven  days,  which  in  every' case  of  sickness 
continuing  for  fifteen  days  draws  eight  dollars  more  from  the 
Association  funds.  In  dispensing  its  benefits  the  Association 
has  never  drawn  a  close  and  narrow  line,  and  many  instances 
might  be  cited  where  aid  has  been  extended  that  might,  on  strict 
construction,  have  been  withheld. 

Besides  actual  members  of  the  police  force,  the  Association 
admits  to  its  benefits  honorary  members,  who  after  five  years* 
continuous  service  retire  from  the  police  force  honorably.  Such 
desiring  to  continue  their  membership,  can  do  so  by  notifying  the 
Secretary  in  writing  within  ten  days  from  date  of  resignation. 
Honorably  retired  members  pay  eight  dollars  per  annum,  and  if 
sick,  draw  five  dollars  per  week  ;  funeral  benefits,  $1,000.00. 
No  better  insurance  exists  than  this. 


HARTLEY  W.  BROWN, 
Vice-President  of  the  Providence  Police  Association. 


OUR   POLICE.  357 

The  liberality  of  private  citizens  has  seconded  the  efforts  of  the 
police.  The  first  donation  to  the  fund  of  the  Association  was 
through  the  generosity  of  Messrs.  Barker,  Whittaker  &  Co., 
hardware  dealers  of  this  city,  for  services  rendered  by  the  police 
at  a  fire  where  their  goods  were  exposed.  A  little  later  on, 
George  M.  Richmond,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  acknowledged  the  effi- 
cient services  of  police  officers  in  protecting  and  recovering  his 
property  from  the  Woonasquatucket  river  during  a  severe  freshet 
*in  1867.  For  services  rendered  at  the  time  he  forwarded  to 
General  Nelson  Viall,  then  Chief  of  Police,  a  check  representing 
a  handsome  sum  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  police.  The 
fund  was  further  augmented  by  Marshall  Woods,  Esq.,  who,  ap- 
preciating the  services  of  Benjamin  A.  Newhall  in  recovering 
valuable  property  stolen  from  his  premises,  proposed  to  reward 
that  officer  by  presenting  him  a  check  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  but  upon  learning  that  under  the  then  existing  circum- 
stances the  officer  could  not  receive  a  reward  for  such  services 
rendered,  presented  the  amount  to  the  Association.  From  time 
to  time  various  other  donations  were  made,  and  in  July,  1877, 
the  Association  received,  under  the  will  of  Peleg  W.  Gardiner, 
sixteen  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  National  Bank  of  North 
America,  the  income  to  be  expended  for  the  benefit  of  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  any  deceased  police  officer  who  has  died  since 
January  1,  1876,  and  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  any  such 
officer  who  may  hereafter  die  while  in  the  service,  and  also  for 
the  benefit  of  any  such  officer  who  may  hereafter,  while  in  such 
service,  and  being  honorably  employed  therein,  become  incapaci- 
tated by  age,  injury,  or  otherwise,  from  further  continuing  in 
such  service,  latitude  being  allowed  as  to  methods  of  payment 
and  re-investment.  The  annual  concerts  and  balls  given  by  the 
Association  have  also  proved  highly  successful,  financially  and 
otherwise.  The  report  for  January,  1888,  showed  a  balance  to 
new  account  of  $21,078.11.  The  expenses  during  the  current 
year  have,  however,  been  very  large,  owing  to  death,  sickness, 
and  other  causes. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  past  officers  of  the  Association : 
President,  "William  H.  Cory,  1871  to  1874,  inclusive;  Andrew 


358  OUR   POLICE. 

McKenzie,  1875  to  1879,  inclusive ;  Benjamin  H.  Child,  1880 ; 
Augustus  J.  Winship,  1881,  1882;  William  Gardiner,  1883, 
1884;  Patrick  Egan,  1885,  1886,1887.  Vice-President,  Rich- 
morid  J.  Stone,  1871 ;  Edward  F.  O'Connor,  1872;  William  T. 
Robinspn,  1873,  1874 ;  William  L.  Roberts,  1875 ;  William  H. 
Ayer,  1876 ;  James  0.  Swan,  1877,  1878,  1879 ;  William  Gar- 
diner, 1880,  1881,  1882 ;  William  Bradbury,  1883 ;  Frank  M. 
Miller,  1884;  Hartley  W.  Brown,  1885,  1886,  1887,  1888. 
Secretary,  William  H.  Ayer,  1871,  1872 ;  Richmond  J.  Stone, 

1873,  1874;  Warren  J.  Nickerson,  1875;  Seth  L.  Horton, 
1876  to  1886,  inclusive;  Stephen  F.  Blanding,  1887.  Treas- 
urer, John  M.   Knowles,  1871,  1872 ;  James  0.  Swan,  1873, 

1874,  1875;  George  P.  Whitney,  1876  (nine  months);  Richard 
A.  Clark,  1876  (three  months) ;  James  P.  Scott,  1877  to  1884, 
inclusive;  Frederick  A.  Rankin,  1885,  1886,  1887. 

Officer  Richard  A.  Clark  was  elected  President  at  the  annual 
meeting  in  January,  as  wise  a  choice  as  could  have  been  made. 
Mr.  Clark  is  one  of  the  best-known  officers  on  the  force,  and 
entrusted  by  his  superiors  with  one  of  the  principal  beats  in  the 
city.  He  has  always  taken  an  earnest  and  intelligent  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Association,  and  is  well  able  to  appreciate  and 
qualified  to  protect  the  interests  of  his  fellow-officers  in  the  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  Hartley  W.  Brown  was  re-elected  to  the  office  oi 
Vice-President,  which  he  has  filled  worthily  for  several  years. 
Mr.  Stephen  F.  Blanding  was  re-elected  Secretary,  and  Mr. 
Frederick  A.  Rankin,  Treasurer. 

The  Directors  for  the  several  stations  are :  Silas  L.  W.  Merrill, 
Station  One ;  Frank  M.  Miller,  Station  Two ;  John  F.  Muldoon, 
Station  Three;  Wm.  A.  Munro,  Station  Four;  William  Brad- 
bury, Station  Five ;  Joseph  A.  Wyman,  Station  Six ;  George  H. 
Norcross,  City  Hall.  Entertainment  Committee :  Albert  E.  A. 
Nickerson,  Joseph  B.  Cui'tis,  William  A.  Kent,  Edward  J.  Smith, 
Job  S.  Yeaw,  Wm.  M.  Wyman,  Elwin  E.  Hewitt,  John  B.  Liv- 
sey,  Joseph  Prout,  Hart  B.  Pierce,  Wm.  H.  Rowe,  P.  Parker. 
Committee  on  North  Burial  Lot :  Augustus  J.  Winship,  Benja^ 
min  H.  Child,  Joseph  B.  Curtis.  Committee  on  Peleg  W. 
Gardiner  Fund :  William  H.  Cory,  Hiram  Hart,  Chas.  B.  Baird' 


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OUK   POLICE.  361 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

WILLIAM  GODDARD  THE  FIRST  REPORTER  OF  POLICE  EVENTS. — 
A  BOSTON  EXECUTION  IN  1745. — WHIPPING  AT  A  CART'S  TAIL 
IN  PROVIDENCE. — RELATIONS  BETWEEN  REPORTERS  AND  THE 
POLICE.  —  REMINISCENCES  IN  A  SERIOUS  AND  A  COMICAL 
VEIN. — HOW  TWO  "undertakers'  ASSISTANTS"  GOT  THE 
NEWS. — ^A   FAITHLESS    REPORTER   BITTEN. 

William  Goddard,  the  publisher  of  the  Providence  Gazette 
and  Country  Journal,  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  first  Provi- 
dence police  reporter.  One  of  the  ablest  journalists  of  a  day 
when  journalism  was  in  its  infancy,  he  showed  a  remarkable  en- 
terprise in  presenting  the  current  news  of  local  concern  and  from 
distant  parts.  In  comment  he  was  frank  and  outspoken,  and 
terse  and  pointed  in  his  relation  of  facts.  His  are  not  the  first 
Rhode  Island  reports  of  criminal  events.  The  town  and  colonial 
records  contain  several  such  accounts,  in  the  brief  and  plain  lan- 
guage of  the  time,  and  there  is  a  grim  description  or  allusion  to 
an  execution  near  Boston,  in  a  letter  written  by  a  Rhode  Island 
schoolmaster  in  1745,  and  to  be  found  among  the  manuscripts  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  The  schoolmaster  quaintly 
relates  that  the  Boston  ministers  preached  to  the  culprits — a  man 
and  a  woman — on  three  or  four  occasions,  the  text  being  of  a 
decidedly  grim  and  sulphurous  character,  when  the  condemned, 
being  no  doubt  ready  to  die,  were  put  to  death,  the  woman  by 
burning,  the  man  by  hanging.  As  the  chronicler  drank  punch 
with  a  friend  on  the  evening  of  the  event,  his  nerves  were 
evidently  not  greatly  shattered. 

The  first  police  report  of  a  criminal  proceeding  appears  in  the 
Providence  G-azette,  of  March  31,  1764,  when  it  is  stated  that 
"  During  the  sitting  of  the  Superior  Court  in  this  town,  a  few 
days  past,  one,  Robert  Bevelin,  a  young  man  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  was  convicted  of  altering  the  lawful  money  bills  of 


362  OUR   POLICE. 

this  colony,  from  a  small  to  a  larger  denomination,  and  of  uttering 
the  same,  for  which  he  received  the  sentence  enjoined  by  the  laws 
of  this  colony.  But,  not  inclining  to  risque  its  execution  in 
which  his  Ears,  etc.,  would  come  in  Question,  he  found  means 
last  night  to  break  from  close  confinement  in  His  Majesty's  Goal 
in  this  place,  and  made  his  escape."  The  same  issue  of  the 
G-azette  contains  the  following  advertisement  : 

Providence,  March  SI,  1764, 

Whereas,  Robert  Bevelin,  a  prisoner  in  His  Majesty's  Goal 
in  Providence,  under  the  sentence  of  imprisonment,  and  of  being 
crept  and  branded,  hath  by  the  assistance  of  some  evil  minded 
persons  procured  Means  to  break  Goal  on  the  Night  of  the  30th 
of  March,  instant.  Said  Bevelin  is  a  youngster  of  about  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  of  a  slim  Make,  has  a  light  complexion,  wears 
his  own  hair,  and  has  served  part  of  an  Apprenticeship  in  the 
Taylor's  business.  He  had  on,  when  he  Escaped,  a  light  col- 
oured, strait-bodied  coat,  black  cloth  breeches  and  waist  coat. 
Whoever  apprehends  said  Felon,  and  conveys  him  to  any  of  His 
Majesty's  Goals  in  this  Colony  or  elsewhere,  so  that  he  may  be 
brought  to  justice,  shall  have  ten  dollars  reward,  and  all 
reasonable  charges  paid  by  me. 

ALLEN  BROWN, 

Sheriff, 

Under  date  of  September  27,  1766,  the  G-azette  reports  that 
"  On  Friday,  the  26th  instant,  at  the  Court  of  Assize  and  Gen- 
eral Goal  Delivery,  held  in  this  town,  one  Joseph  Hart,  who  was, 
during  this  session  of  the  Court,  tried  for  burglary,  as  mentioned 
in  our  last,  being  found  guilty  by  the  petit  jury  of  feloniously 
stealing  sundry  goods  otft  of  the  store  of  Mr.  Obadiah  Sprague, 
of  North  Providence,  received  sentenced  to  restore  unto  the  said 
Obadiah  six  pounds  lawful  money,  being  the  two-fold  value  of 
the  goods  stolen ;  to  pay  as  a  fine  to,  and  for  the  use  of  His 
Majesty,  ten  pounds  lawful  money ;  or  on  the  third  day  of  Octo- 
ber next,  between  the  hours  of  nine  and  eleven  o'clock  A.  M., 
to  be  whipped  on  his  naked  back^  at  a  cart's  tail,  at  six  several 


OUR   POLICE.  363 

places  in  the  main  street  of  this  town,  five  lashes  at  each  place ; 
to  pay  all  costs  of  prosecution  and  conviction ;  and,  on  non-pay- 
ment of  the  two-fold  value  of  the  goods  stolen,  and  costs,  to  be 
sold  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three  years,  and  to  stand  commit- 
ted till  sentence  be  performed." 

We  learn  in  a  later  issue  that  "at  the  Superior  Court,  held 
here  last  week,  one  Josiah  Tabor  was  convicted  of  counterfeiting 
dollars,  and  passing  the  same,  and  was  sentenced  to  stand  in  the 
Pillory  two  different  times,  to  be  imprisoned  one  month,  and  pay 
all  charges.  And  yesterday  he  was  advanced  to  the  Pillory, 
pursuant  to  his  sentence,  and  received  such  treatment  as  rogues 
in  his  situation  generally  meet  with." 

Such  are  specimens  of  early  reporting.  The  Providence  Jour- 
nal^ from  the  time  of  its  inception,  always  gave  accounts  of 
interesting  criminal  events,  and  in  the  case  of  a  murder  or  an 
execution  the  report,  as  to  length  and  precision,  would  compare 
respectably  with  modern  productions  of  the  kind.  The  brisk 
and  gossipy  style  of  reporting  court  proceedings  is,  however,  of 
recent  date  in  Rhode  Island.  Before  the  writer  entered  the 
service  of  the  Journal,  in  1869,  the  reports  of  the  Court  of 
Magistrates  were  of  the  "cut  and  dried"  variety.  When  the 
change  took  place  can  be  readily  discerned  in  the  Journal  and 
Bulletin  of  that  year. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  report  of  a  prize-fight 
printed  in  the  Journal  appeared  in  1870.  The  late  Chief  of 
Police,  Thomas  J.  A.  Gross,  who  was  present  at  the  fight,  on 
Mystic  Island,  kindly  gave  the  facts  to  the  reporters  of  the 
Journal  and  Kerald.  It  was  an  excellent  report,  from  a  pu- 
gilistic standpoint,  for  Mr.  Gross  had  a  taste  for  sport.  Mr. 
Danielson,  the  talented  editor  of  the  Journal,  decided,  after 
some  hesitation,  to  print  the  story,  and  the  Journal  lost  no 
readers  thereby. 

Mr.  John  C.  Dyer,  of  the  Journal,  has  kindly  contributed  the 
following,  as  to  the  relations  between  newspaper  men  and  the 
police : 

"  The  best  reporters  that  Providence  has  ever  seen  have  entered 
the  business  on  police  local  work  and  owe  their  success  largely 


364  OUR    POLICE. 

to  their  friendship  with  the  police.  The  present  distinguished 
editor  of  the  Journal^  Alfred  M.  Williams,  did  police  local  work 
for  some  years,  and  is  well  remembered  bj  the  older  members  of 
the  force.  And  there  are  many  others  who  first  became  known 
through  police  reporting  in  Providence,  such  men  as  Fred  Gower, 
of  telephone  fame,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  lost  while  crossing 
the  English  channel  in  a  balloon,  Charley  Carroll,  now  city  editor 
of  the  Worcester  Telegram,  Mr.  Walsh,  editor  of  the  Weekly 
Visitor,  the  Catholic  organ  of  Providence,  Ned  Jones  and  Char- 
ley Dow,  of  the  firm  of  Jones  and  Dow,  stock  brokers  in  New 
York,  Manton  Luther,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  St.  Paul  Pioneer 
Press,  Mart.  Day,  city  editor  of  the  Providence  Journal,  Dan 
Hayden,  assistant  editor  of  the  Pawtuchet  Times,  and  Thomas 
McElroy,  managing  editor  of  the  Providence  Telegram.  Every 
one  of  these  men  have  chased  the  nimble  item  among  the  police 
stations,  day  and  night,  and  all  of  them  were  on  good  terms  with 
the  police. 

"  During  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years,  there  have  been  many 
changes  on  the  force  and  proportionately  as  many  among  the 
newspaper  men.  A  dozen  years  ago  on  the  rosters  of  the  differ- 
ent stations  could  have  been  found  the  names  of  nearly  all  the 
present  high  officers  of  the  police.  The  Chief,  Deputy,  the  three 
detectives,  superintendent  of  hacks,  property  clerk,  several  of 
the  captains,  were  patrolmen  in  their  day,  and  every  one  of  them 
was  a  friend  of  the  newspaper  men.  Their  present  official  posi- 
tions were  of  course  mainly  due  to  their  own  capabilities  and 
energy,  but  it  is  not  detracting  from  these  in  the  slightest  to  say 
that  the  journalistic  pencil  has  had  some  influence  in  their  ad- 
vancement. I  know  more  than  one  who  dates  his  promotion  from 
a  well-written  item  that  brought  his  just  deserts  to  the  notice  of 
the  public. 

"Naturally,  when  men  are  brought  so  much  together  as  the 
local  reporters  and  the  police,  there  must  be  something  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  routine  work,  and  many  a  joke  is  given  and 
taken,  always  in  the  best  of  spirit,  and  with  no  hard  feelings  on 
either  side.  One  of  the  most  inveterate  jokers  ever  on  the  force 
was  Isaac  Fairbrother,  who,  for  a  long  while,  was  the  special 


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ALFRED   M.    WILLIAMS,    ESQ., 
Editor  of  The  Providence  JoumaL 


«     •  « 

*     -    •. 


OUR    POLICE.  367 

officer  at  the  passenger  station.  He  would  rather  play  a  joke  on 
a  reporter  than  eat  his  dinner,  and  he  was  thinking  up  some  new 
scheme  continually. .  When  Oliver  Munroe  was  the  police  re- 
porter on  the  Press  and  Star,  Isaac  had  tried  every  way  to  play 
a  big  joke  on  him,  but  always  failed.  Finally  the  time  came, 
and  Oliver  was  fairly  caught.  The  officer  secured  an  old  suit  of 
clothes,  which  he  stuffed  with  straw,  tied  a  pair  of  boots  on  where 
the  feet  should  be,  and  put  a  mask  on  the  head.  This  dummy 
he  hung  in  the  roof  of  an  old  room  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
station,  and  then  waited  for  the  proper  time  to  come  to  spring  the 
joke.  The  last  editions  of  the  papers  went  to  press  then  about  four 
o'clock,  and  the  local  men  used  to  make  their  last  visit  to  the  sta- 
tion about  three  o'clock.  Munroe  sauntered  into  the  station  just 
in  time  to  be  met  by  the  officer,  apparently  in  a  great  hurry,  with : 
*If  you  want  an  item  hurry  up  stairs — man  hung  himself — 
going  for  the  Coroner !  '  With  thoughts  of  an  exclusive,  Oliver 
tore  up  stairs,  three  steps  at  a  time,  and  had  his  note  book  and 
pencil  out  as  he  entered  the  room.  The  dummy  hung  away  up 
in  the  peak  of  the  roof;  the  room  was  dark  and  the  deceit  was 
not  at  once  detected. 

**  Oliver  began  to  jot  down  notes  of  the  appearance  of  the  room, 
the  way  the  body  hung,  etc.,  while  waiting  for  the  Coroner  to 
come.  Just  then  Fairbrother  returned,  not  with  the  Coroner, 
but  with  all  the  newspaper  men  he  could  find,  and  a  dozen  or  so 
conductors  and  officials  about  the  station.  For  a  moment  the 
joke  was  not  apparent  until  Ike  loosened  a  rope  in  the  corner, 
and  the  dummy  began  slowly  to  descend,  and  then  a  roar  from 
the  whole  crowd  burst  forth.  Oliver  acknowledged  that  he  was 
sold,  but  very  rightly  said  that  he  could  be  caught  that  way  any 
time,  for  he  would  rather  be  the  victim  of  a  dozen  jokes  than  to 
lose  one  piece  of  news. 

"  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Officer  Fairbrother  was  paid 
back  in  his  own  coin.  He  was  an  inveterate  trader,  and  would  swop 
anything  or  everything  he  had  and  never  got  the  worse  of  a  bar- 
gain. One  day  he  said  that  he  had  a  nice  cow  that  he  wanted  to 
trade  for  something.  One  of  the  boys  asked  him  what  he  wanted 
if>r  her.     He  said  he  would  trade  for  a  second-hand  stove-pipe,  if 


868  OUR   POLICE. 

he  could  get  nothing  else.  This  was  a  chance  for  the  men  upon 
whom  Fairbrother  had  been  playing  his  jokes,  and  the  next  Sunday 
an  express  wagon  full  of  rusty  stove-pipes  drove  up  in  front  of 
his  house  and  the  driver  began  to  unload  it  in  the  yard.  He  had 
a  dozen  or  fifteen  lengths  unloaded  before  the  officer  could  stop 
him  and  then  he  only  paused  to  hand  over  a  note  before  going  on 
with  the  work.  The  note  stated  that  this  was  the  first  of  six 
loads  of  pipe  that  would  be  sent  to  him  in  exchange  for  a  cow, 
the  other  loads  would  be  sent  within  the  next  two  or  three  days, 
and  he  could  send  the  cow  back  with  the  driver  of  the  last  load. 
By  the  time  Isaac  had  finished  reading  the  note  he  was  more  than 
mad,  and  the  language  he  used,  while  it  would  not  look  well  in 
print,  left  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  heard  it,  as  to 
what  its  meaning  was.  The  pipe  was  all  unloaded  however,  and 
profanity  was  of  little  avail ;  for  the  driver  said  he  had  only 
obeyed  orders,  and  if  Mr.  Fairbrother  did  not  want  the  pipe  he 
could  have  it  moved  away.  Finally  an  ofier  was  made  of  coin  of 
the  realm,  and  the  pipe  was  loaded  up  again  and  returned  to  the 
city.  For  a  long  time  after  that  it  was  dangerous  to  mention 
stove-pipe  to  Mr.  Fairbrother. 

"Before  the  days  of  telephones  the  night  local  reporters  had  to 
visit  all  of  the  stations  in  turn  to  get  "the  news,  and  then  the 
friendship  of  the  officers  was  put  to  the  test.  I  remember  one  night 
Mart  Day,  of  the  Journal,  and  myself  met  a  patrolman,  now  a 
prominent  official  of  the  force,  and  he  gave  us  a  hint  of  a  sudden 
death  that  might  prove  worth  looking  into.  We  hurried  to  the 
station,  but  could  get  no  information,  except  that  a  woman  had 
died,  and  even  the  location  was  kept  from  us.  Back  we  hurried 
to  the  patrolman,  and  he  located  the  house,  and  suggested  that 
he  had  heard  that  an  undertaker  had  been  sent  for,  and  was  to 
visit  the  house  early  in  the  morning.  That  was  enough  for  us, 
and  within  ten  minutes  we  were  at  the  house  in  the  guise  of  two 
undertaker's  assistants.  We  had  been  sent  simply  to  make  pre- 
liminary arrangements,  we  said,  and  it  was  not  very  long  before 
we  had  all  the  facts  there  were  in  the  case.  After  advising  the 
family  to  refuse  admission  to  .any  reporters  that  might  call,  we 
left,  promising  to  be  on  hand  early  in  the  morning.     We  each 


OUR   POLICE.  369 

had  a  good  story  in  the  morning,  and  that  patrolman  won  two 
firm  friends,  who,  to  this  day,  will  go  out  of  their  way  to  do  him 
a  favor. 

**  One  day  when  Charley  Hunt,  now  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Public  Works,  was  warrant  officer,  he  came  into  the  Central 
Station  with  a  nice  new  pair  of  handcuffs,  which  he  displayed 
with  a  great  deal  of  pride.  He  suggested  that  Mart  Day  try 
them  on  and  show  the  rest  of  us  how  they  looked.  No  sooner 
said  than  done,  and  in  a  moment  Mart  was  safely  secured. 
Naturally  those  in  the  room  began  to  pass  remarks  about  the 
appropriateness  of  the  bracelets,  etc.,  all  of  which  were  taken 
good  naturedly.  Getting  a  little  tired  of  the  chaff,  Mr.  Day 
looked  around  for  the  warrant  officer,  and  the  key  to  the  hand- 
cuffs, but  he  was  not  there.  The  warrant  officer  had  been  called 
away  to  State  Prison,  then  just  across  the  Cove,  and  taken  the 
key  with  him,  not  thinking  for  an  instant  about  the  hand-cuffs. 
A  messenger  was  at  once  sent  for  him,  and  Mr.  Day  settled  down 
patiently  to  wait.  All  was  quiet,  when  suddenly  one  of  the  offi- 
cers came  in  with  two  strangers,  and  walking  up  in  front  of  Mr. 
Day,  coolly  remarked :  '  This  is  Albany  Pete,  a  bank  robber, 
that  has  been  wanted  for  a  long  time,  and  we  happened  to  find  him 
here,  in  town.  He  is  a  desperate  man,  and  we  have  to  keep  him 
in  irons  until  the  Chief  comes,  and  we  can  put  him  in  a  cell.* 
The  strangers  made  some  remarks  about  the  prisoner's  desperate 
appearance,  and  went  out.  But  the  rest  had  caught  the  idea,  and 
for  the  next  half  hour  there  was  a  constant  round  of  visitors,  and 
to  each  party  the  unfortunate  newspaper  man  was  exhibited  and 
described  as  a  murderer,  a  forger,  a  sneak  thief,  pick-pocket,  etc., 
and  in  each  case  he  was  described  as  very  dangerous,  and  noted 
in  his  line.  Finally  the  last  straw  was  laid  on ;  the  one  who  had 
started  the  fun  came  in  with  two  men,  and  looking  at  Mr.  Day 
in  a  pitying  way,  said :  ^  That's  a  sad  case ;  he  is  insane  and 
very  violent  at  times,  and  we  are  waiting  for  a  wagon  to  take  him 
to  Butler  Asylum.*  'Poor  young  man,*  said  one  of  the  stran- 
gers, *what  is  his  hallucination?*  The  officer  gravely  replied: 
*He  thinks  he  is  a  reporter  for  the  JoumaV  This  was  too 
much  for  the  rest  of  those  present,  and  a  roar  of  laughter  fairly 


370  OUR   POLICE. 

ehook  the  place,  while  Mr.  Day  was  too  mad  even  to  speak. 
Before  any  more  visitors  could  be  brought  in,  Charley  Hunt  re- 
turned, and  the  reporter  was  released. 

"  Before  the  telephones  were  put  in  there  used  to  be  telegraph 
machines  at  the  different  stations  with  two  dials  on  top,  one 
having  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  on  keys  around  the  edge,  while 
the  other  was .  simply  for  receiving.  To  send  a  message,  the 
treadle  of  the  machine  had  to  be  worked  like  a  sewing  machine, 
and  the  keys  pressed  to  spell  out  the  words;  and  when  the 
answer  came  the  little  needle  on  the  small  dial  moved  around 
from  letter  to  letter.  Chief  Child  was  then  at  the  Central  Sta- 
tion, and  he  was  the  fastest  operator  on  the  force.  Certain  of 
the  newspaper  men  whom  he  knew  he  could  trust  were  allowed 
to  take  their  news  direct  from  the  machine,  and  when  he  was 
feeling  good  how  he  would  make  that  needle  fly !  It  was  excel- 
lent practice  for  the  writers  and  some  of  the  best  long-hand 
reporters  that  the  city  ever  had  owed  their  rapidity  in  a  large 
degree  to  that  schooling.  Local  news  was  not  made  as  much  of 
then  as  it  is  now ;  but  still  it  was  not  uncommon  to  get  material 
for  a  column  or  more  from  the  ticker  at  night.  Some  of  the 
messages  that  used  to  come  over  the  wires  were  very  funny,  and 
used  to  enliven  the  monotony  of  the  work,  as  well  as  give  a 
chance  for  bright  paragraphs.  One  night  the  Fourth  Station  was 
very  slow  in  answering,  and  finally  a  message  was  laboriously 
spelled  out — ^Lieutenant  is  out.'  *Any  news?' — ticked  back 
Mr.  Child.  *  Suppressed  a  disturbance,'  came  the  answer.  Mr. 
Child  was  just  going  to  shut  off  the  connection,  when  one  of 
the  reporters  remarked — '  News  is  dull ;  please  ask  what  the 
disturbance  was.'  The  question  was  asked,  and  slowly  came 
back  the  answer — *  m-a-n  k-i-1-l-e-d  h-i-s  w-i-f-e.*  There  was  a 
whiz,  and  two  holes  were  left  in  the  air  where  two  reporters 
had  passed  through.  The  time  that  they  made  from  the  Central 
Station  to  the  Fourth  would  have  menaced  the  record  of  Maud  S. 
It  proved  that  a  new  man  sent  in  the  report,  and  he  did  not 
know  what  to  send,  and  hardly  knew  how  to  operate  the  machine. 
The  murder  was  a  good  piece  of  news. 

**In  those  days,  with  the  night  report,  came  an  account  of  how 


OUR   POLICE.  371 

many  lanterns  had  been  hung  to  warn  the  public  of  breaks  in 
the  road  or  other  obstructions  to  travel.  One  night  the  report 
was  being  slowly  ticked  in  from  one  of  the  stations,  and  on  the 
end  came  the  startling  announcement — '  Hung  a  lantern  on  a 
hole.'  Just  how  the  hanging  was  accomplished  was  never  ex- 
plained, but  the  fact  went  on  record  just  the  same  that  a  Provi- 
dence policeman  had  been  able  to  hang  something  on  nothing. 

**  With  the  advent  of  the  telephones  and  the  increase  in  the 
publication  of  local  news  the  number  of  reporters  was  greater, 
and  the  police  became  more  careful  in  giving  out  information. 
There  were  many  reasons  for  this,  and  though  some  of  the  new 
men  found  fault,  the  old  timers  knew  that  no  one  was  to  blame, 
and  they  had  no  trouble  in  getting  as  much  news  as  formerly. 
The  principal  reason  for  keeping  news  back  was  crooked  work  by 
one  or  two  men  who  had  an  idea  that  it  was  smart  to  get  unim- 
portant items  that  the  police  wanted  to  keep  quiet.  The  ofiBcer 
in  charge  of  each  station  was  obliged  to  make  full  reports  of  all 
work  done,  and  send  a  duplicate  copy  to  the  City  Hall.  These 
duplicate  copies  were  on  yellow  tissue  paper,  and  were  always 
kept  on  one  particular  desk.  News  that  was  only  on  these  reports 
appeared  in  one  of  the  papers,  and  the  Chief  began  to  investigate 
in  a  quiet  way.  Word  was  given  to  the  officers  in  the  Hall  not 
to  say  anything,  but  watch  the  reporters,  and  they  did  it,  and 
did  it  well,  too.  The  reporter  who  had  been  stealing  the  news 
suspected  that  he  was  watched,  and  for  a  week  made  no  effort  to 
see  the  slips,  but  finally  concluded  that  he  was  safe,  and  one  fine 
morning  was  caught  with  the  slips  in  his  hands,  copying  the 
reports.  From  that  time  out  the  relations  between  the  reporters 
and  the  police  have  been  pleasant  in  every  way,  but  the  news  has 
been  given  out  at  stated  times,  and  in  regular  set  ways,  and  the 
boys  have  to  depend  much  more  upon  themselves  than  formerly. 
Of  course  every  reporter  has  some  members  of  the  force  with 
whom  he  is  especially  familiar,  and  from  whom  he  can  get  his 
news  easier  than  from  others. 

"  One  reporter,  who  made  a  habit  of  stealing  news  in  an  unmanly 
way,  was  badly  bitten  on  an  occasion  to  be  related.  He  was  on  at 
night  for  the  Star^  with  John  Schofield,  of  the  Journal,  now 


372  OUB   POLICE. 

editor  of  the  Rhode  Island  Democrat,  and  would  take  all  of 
John's  news  and  never  give  him  any  in  return.  At  last  Schofield 
got  tired,  and  arranged  to  get  square.  He  wrote  a  fictitious  story 
of  a  serious  stabbing  affray  in  Pawtuxet,  giving  names,  times, 
&c.,  and  apparently,  by  accident,  left  it  on  the  desk  in  the 
Central  Station  while  he  went  up  stairs.  The  Star  man  came 
in,  saw  the  article  on  the  desk,  and,  after  calmly  reading  it 
through,  took  full  notes,  and  later,  when  Schofield  appeared, 
innocently  asked  him  if  there  was  anything  new  going  on. 
The  next  morning  the  Star  had  a  prominent  story  about  the 
stabbing  affray  that  never  occurred,  and  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  Journal  did  not  have  a  word  of  it.  Schofield  was  re- 
venged, and  the  police  made  the  Star  man's  life  a  burden  to  him 
by  their  frequent  reference  to  the  affair. 

"  One  of  the  most  amusing  things  that  ever  happened  at  the 
Central  Station  was  in  connection  with  the  veteran  J.  Crawford 
Potter,  or  *  Crawf,'  as  he  is  better  known,  one  of  the  two  dog 
officers.  John  Murray,  now  a  detective,  was  then  day  Sergeant 
at  the  Central,  and  the  older  newspaper  men  did  not  have  a 
firmer  friend  on  the  force  than  'Jack.'  He  had  a  keen  'nose 
for  news,'  as  the  term  is  in  newspaper  parlance,  and  when  there 
was  not  much  going  on  he  always  had  an  item  for  his  friends. 
He  dearly  loved  a  joke,  and  would  go  to  any  trouble  to  play 
one.  One  forenoon  an  antique  and  disreputable  looking  dog  was 
brought  into  the  station,  with  a  request  that  the  dog  officer  kill 
it.  Jack  said  he  would  see  to  it,  and  put  the  dog  in  the  cellar  to 
await  Mr.  Potter's  arrival.  The  next  morning  the  dog  was  gone, 
and  the  presumption  was  that  it  had  been  killed.  News  was  dull 
that  morning,  and  Jack,  to  aid  one  of  the  boys  who  was  in  search 
of  items,  was  telling  him  about  the  dog,  when  in  came  a  man 
leading  the  same  dog.  He  walked  up  to  the  railing,  and  with 
what  was  intended  to  be  bitter  sarcasm,  remarked:  'Will  you 
kindly  have  this  dog  killed  again  ?  '  Jack  was  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion, and  without  changing  his  countenance,  or  showing  the 
the  semblance  of  a  smile,  answered :  *  Certainly,  sir ;  must  be 
some  cat  blood  in  him  as  he  seems  to  have  two  lives.'  The 
owner  departed,  and  Jack  had  the  dog  put  in  the  cellar.     This 


OUR  POLICE.  373 

time  the  poor  pariah  was  killed,  and  the  afternoon  papers  had 
humorous  accounts  of  Mr.  Potter  killing  the  same  dog  twice 
and  queries  whether  he  charged  double  fees,  if  he  made  two  re- 
turns on  the  same  dog,  etc.  Mr.  Potter  demanded  apologies  from 
the  papers,  while  Sergeant  Murray  was  on  a  grin  for  a  week. 

*'  The  genuine  and  trustworthy  newspaper  man  is,  as  a  rule, 
confided  in  by  the  genuine  and  trustworthy  officer.  Experienced 
members  of  the  force  do  not  hesitate  to  tell  newspaper  men  what 
they  know  to  be  reliable  facts  in  any  case,  and  trust  them  not  to 
use  the  story  until  it  is  time.  Very  often  a  man  who  knows  his 
business  can  write  an  article,  especially  in  a  case  of  robbery,  and 
throw  the  real  criminals  off  the  track,  and  thus  aid  the  officers  in 
securing  them.  In  fact,  to  put  a  volume  in  a  few  words,  journal- 
ists and  police  officers  can  do  better  by  working  together,  and  will 
very  often  fail  when  trying  to  work  alone.  This  is  especially 
true  in  Providence,  and  certainly  no  journalist  can  meet  more 
considerate  and  courteous  public  officials  than  the  officers  and 
members  of  the  Providence  Police  Force." 


874  OUR   POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE  EARLY  CODE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  COMPARATIVELY  MILD. — 
AGITATION  FOR  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  PILLORY  AND  WHIP- 
PING-POST.— HORRIBLE  SPECTACLES  IN  PROVIDENCE  STREETS 
SIXTY  YEARS  AGO. — EXECUTION  OF  MINER  AND  BROWN. — A 
CITIZEN  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  HANGED,  DRAWN  AND  QUARTERED 
FOR  TREASON  IN  CANADA. — THE  TRIAL  OF  JOHN  GORDON  FOR 
THE  MURDER  OF  AMASA  SPRAGUE. — PROBABILITIES  AS  TO  GOR- 
DON'S GUILT  OR  INNOCENCE. — HIS  EXECUTION. 

As  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  early  code  of  Rhode  Is- 
land was  comparative  mild.  It  grew  more  severe  in  the  course  of 
time,  as  the  community  became  lesa  secluded,  and  strangers,  witji 
their  vices,  invaded  the  domain  of  the  Founders.  But,  through- 
out the  existence  of  colony  and  State,  human  life  has  always 
been  held  in  sanctity.  The  pillory,  cropping,  branding  and 
whipping,  however,  were  in  use  in  Rhode  Island  long  after  being 
discarded  by  neighboring  Commonwealths,  and  the  agitation  for 
some  more  humane  method  of  dealing  with  criminals  was  carried 
on  for  many  years  before  the  legislature  was  reconciled  to  a  radi- 
cal change  in  the  laws.  The  early  punishments  were,  many  of 
them,  of  a  peculiar  character.  The  man  who  violated  the  sanc- 
tity of  another's  family  was  whipped  for  the  first  offence,  through 
two  towns;  for  the  second,  through  every  town  in  the  State.  As 
no  provision  was  made  for  the  third  offence,  it  is  presumed  that, 
by  this  time,  the  offender  had  reformed  or  emigrated.  A  *^  noto- 
rious and  accustomed  swearer  and  curser,"  was  admonished  by  a 
magistrate  for  the  first  offence,  and  put  in  the  stocks  for  the  sec- 
ond,  or  fined  five  shillings.  Counterfeiting  was  punished  by  the 
pillory,  cropping  of  both'  ears,  and  branding  the  cheek  with  the 
letter  "  C,  *  besides  imprisonment  for  six  years,  or  a  fine  not  ex- 
ceeding four  thousand  dollars. 

For  many  years  of  the  colonial  period,  beginning  with  1718, 


OUR    POLICE.  375 

the  thief  was  not  only  compelled  to  restore  four-fold  to  the  owner 
and  four-fold  to  the  colony,  besides  being  whipped,  but  was  sold 
into  slavery  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three  years,  to  pay  the  costs. 
The  sales  were  advertised  in  the  newspapers,  and  a  description 
given,  as  of  a  horse  or  a  cow  to-day.  Up  to  1838,  also  the  biga- 
mist could  be  compelled  to  sit  on  the  gallows  with  a  rope  around 
his  neck,  in  which  position  he  must  have  been  an  interesting  spec- 
tacle for  the  wives  he  had  victimized  by  the  noose  matrimonial. 
He  was  also  liable  to  be  whipped  and  fined.  By  the  digest  of 
1822,  the  burning  of  a  house,  not  arson  at  common  law,  was 
made  punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  the  pillory,  cropping 
and  branding.  These  cruel  penalties  were  inflicted  with  two  ob- 
jects, first,  to  punish  the  criminal  without  the  expense  of  main- 
taining him  for  a  long  period  in  jail :  second,  to  warn  the  public 
against  those  convicted  of  heinous  crimes,  by  marking  them  in 
a  way  that  could  be  readily  recognized.  The  question  of  a  jail 
or  State  Prison  was,  therefore,  intimately  connected  with  that  of 
corporal  punishment,  and,  as  humane  ideas  gained  advancement, 
the  movement  in  favor  of  a  prison  became  stronger.  In  1797 
the  General  Assembly  directed  a  committee,  before  that  time  ap- 
pointed to  build  a  jail  in  the  county  of  Providence,  to  proceed 
and  build  not  only  a  new  jail,  but  a  State  Prison  also.  The  act 
was  repealed  in  the  following  year,  and  a  county  jail  was  erected 
upon  the  foundations  intended  for  a  State  Prison.  The  building 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  Court  House  parade,  on  the  west  side  of 
Main  street,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  it.  It 
soon  became  neglected,  and  for  many  years  before  its  abandon- 
ment in  1838,  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the  State.  Criminals  under 
sentence  of  death  were  confined  there  before  execution,  and  old 
citizens  can  remember  when  Miner  and  Brown  were  taken  from 
the  jail  in  a  stage-coach,  to  be  hanged  for  their  crimes. 

The  sentiment  in  favor  of  abolishing  the  whipping  post  and 
other  methods  of  torture  grew  stronger  year  by  year.  The 
Providence  Journal  of  January  4,  1827,  said,  under  the  head  of 
"Whipping,  Cropping,  and  Branding:" 

"  In  connection  with  the  above  (the  subject  of  a  new  jail  for 
Providence)  is  the  resolution  for  a  revisal  of  the  criminal  code  of 


37(3  OUR    POLICE. 

this  State,  now  in  the  hands  of  an  able  committee  to  report 
thereon,  namely,  Messrs.  Knight,  Tillinghast  and  Dixon.  The 
laudable  object  of  this  reference,  on  the  part  of  the  mover,  Mr. 
Knight,  was  to  substitute  some  other  punishment  for  the  bar- 
barous and  wretched  system  of  lacerating  and  mutilating  the 
person  of  criminal  convicts,  which  has  so  long  remained  a  stigma 
upon  the  statute  book  of  Rhode  Island.  The  committee,  we 
know,  are  extremely  solicitous  to  introduce  some  wholesome 
reform  in  this  portion  of  our  criminal  code,  and  it  is  believed 
there  is  a  feeling  in  the  Legislature  which  will  fully  sustain  them. 
To  the  honor  of  Rhode  Island,  she  has  ever  been  careful  of 
taking  the  life  of  the  wretched  criminal,  but  she  cannot  be  longer 
insensible  to  the  more  in;iportant  preservation,  of  what  may  re- 
main of  his  moral  sensibilities  Death  itself  is  better  than  the 
brand  of  infamy  stamped  upon  the  clieek  of  the  victim  of  crime — 
the  mutilated  ear  that  proclaims  his  disgrace  to  the  whole  world, 
or  the  exposure,  in  the  presence  of  the  heartless  mob,  to  the 
lashes  of  the  whip  in,flicted  upon  the  naked  back,  either  of  them 
the  most  disgusting  exhibition  that  can  be  presented  to  a  civilized 
community,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  shut  out  the  criminal  from 
all  hopes  of  reform,  and  to  harden  the  hearts  and  pervert  the 
moral  feelings  of  those  who  behold  it. 

"  In  nine  or  ten  instances  the  last  year  has  been  seen  in  one 
of  the  most  public  streets  in  Providence  a  man  stripped  to  the 
waist  tied  to  a  post,  and  an  executioner  checkering  his  back  with 
stripes  that,  in  some  cases,  caused  the  blood  to  follow  every  blow. 
Shall  such  things  be  tolerated  in  a  civilized  and  Christian  com- 
munity? If  80,  let  us  no  longer  pretend  to  shudder  at  the 
exhibition  of  the  naked  black  in  the  market  places  of  the  towns 
of  slave-holding  states,  undergoing  the  torture  of  the  whip  for 
some  trifling  disobedience  toward  his  tyrannic  master.  They  view 
the  negro  as  we  do  our  beasts  of  burden — but  we  lacerate  and 
mutilate  men — men  who,  although  they  have  incurred  the  penalty 
of  the  law,  are  nevertheless  human  beings,  and  upon  whom  the 
gates  of  mercy  and  repentance  should  never  be  closed  by  any 
legislative  act." 

But,  notwithstanding  the  horror  excited  by  such  scenes  as  de- 


OUR   POLICE.  377 

scribed  in  the  Journah  it  was  not  until  the  General  Assembly 
had  submitted  the  question  of  erecting  a  State  Prison  to  the 
freemen,  and  the  proposition  had  been  approved  by  the  over- 
whelming vote  of  4,433  for  to  502  against,  that  the  work  was 
undertaken.  The  State  Prison,  enlarged  in  1843,  when  the  old 
portion  was  devoted  to  the  uses  of  a  county  jail,  was  first  occu- 
pied in  the  latter  part  of  1838,  and  continued  in  use  until  the 
erection  of  the  new  State  Prison  in  Cranston.  With  the  com- 
pletion of  a  place  for  the  confinement  of  criminals,  the  pillory, 
the  lash  and  the  branding-iron  were  laid  aside  in  Rhode  Island. 

Compared  with  England  and  other  States,  capital  punishment 
was  inflicted  for  but  few  crimes  in  Rhode  Island ;  the  code  of 
some  States  of  the  Union  to-day  being,  in  this  respect,  as  severe 
as  that  of  Rhode  Island,  fifty  years  ago.  Executions  were  very 
rare  in  this  city.  The  most  notable,  previous  to  that  of  Gordon, 
was  when  Amos  Miner,  white,  and  Charles  Brown,  colored,  were 
hanged,  Friday,  December  27,  1833,  the  first  for  killing  John 
Smith,  Town  Sergeant  of  Foster,  the  second  for  robbing  Col. 
Richard  Smith,  who  kept  a  grocery  store  at  Thomas  and  North 
Main  streets.  The  execution  took  place  in  North  Providence, 
on  the  side  of  a  deep  ravine,  now  crossed  by  Smith  street,  a 
short  distance  this  side  of  Elmhurst.  There  was  but  little  to 
distinguish  the  scene  from  public  executions  of  more  recent  date, 
save  that  Miner,  asserting  that  he  had  acted  only  in  self-defence, 
imprecated  the  vengeance  of  Almighty  God  on  the  State,  the 
authorities  and  his  accusers.  He  was  only  interrupted  by  the 
cutting  of  the  cord  which  held  the  weight.  The  body  of  Brown, 
by  his  own  consent,  previously  obtained,  was  given  to  surgeons 
for  galvanic  experiments. 

Although  not  germane,  strictly  speaking,  to  the  subject-mcitter 
of  this  work,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  that  David  M'Lane, 
a  citizen  of  Rhode  Island,  was  the  last  person  subjected,  in  the 
British  Dominions,  to  the  barbarous  English  penalty  for  treason. 
M'Lane,  whose  name  indicates  Scottish  ancestry,  came  to  Provi- 
dence from  the  vicinity  of  Franklin,  Mass.,  and  was  established 
in  business  for  a  number  of  years  on  Main  street.  Failing  in 
business,  and  being  unable  to  compromise  with  certain  of  his 


378  OUR   POLICE. 

creditors,  he  fled  from  Rhode  Island.  In  1797,  he  was  arrested 
at  Quebec,  Canada,  on  an  accusation  of  treason,  and  his  trial 
took  place  in  July  of  that  year.  He  was  accused  of  conspiracy 
"to  compass  the  death  of  the  King,"  and  to  seize  the  City  of 
Quebec.  The  chief  witness  against  him  was  one  John  Black,  a 
ship  carpenter,  who  swore  that  M'Lane  had  confided  to  him  a 
plot  to  arm  five  hundred  men  with  pikes  seven  or  eight  feet  long, 
dose  the  troops  of  the  garrison  with  laudanum,  and  seize  the  City 
of  Quebec,  in  behalf  of  the  French  government;  also,  that 
M'Lane,  who  went  in  Canada  by  the  name  of  Jacob  Felt,  had 
exhibited  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  Adet,  the  French 
Minister  to  the  United  States.  Other  evidence  of  a  similar  nature 
was  given,  but  not  a  particle  to  show  that  there  was  any  con- 
spiracy, or  that  the  suggestions  were  ofeher  than  fancies  of  an 
enthusiastic,  if  not  a  disordered  imagination.  Much  of  the  testi- 
mony was  of  conversation  held  in  Vermont,  beyond  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Great  Britain.  But  the  Chief  Justice,  Osgood,  was 
determined  to  convict ;  the  jury  was  selected  wholly  from  the 
English  inhabitants,  and  grave  apprehensions  were  felt  as  to  the 
fidelity  of  the  French,  who  constituted  the  vast  majority  of  the 
population.  M'Lane  made  a  personal  address,  which  showed 
him  to  be  a  man  of  more  than  average  intelligence,  if  not  of  well- 
balanced  mind.  He  stated  that  the  letter  from  Adet  was  for  use 
in  France,  where  his  wife,  who  had  relatives  in  Newport,  R.  L, 
was  entitled  to  some  property,  and  that  his  visit  to  Canada  was 
of  a  business  nature.  He  was  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  the 
barbarous  penalty  for  treason.  He  went  to  the  scaffold  calmly, 
and  the  horrible  decree  was  duly  carried  out,  save  that  the  victim 
was  undoubtedly  dead  before  the  executioner  began  the  work  of 
mutilation,  and  that,  instead  of  dividing  the  body,  incisions  were 
made  marking  where  the  division  ought  to  be.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice was  rewarded  with  an  increase  of  salary,  and  the  government 
witnesses  received  large  grants  of  land,  known  to  this  day  among 
the  Canadians  as  "  The  Bloody  Townships."  M'Lane's  faithful 
daughter,  who  lived  in  Franklin,  went,  in  later  years,  to  Canada 
and  brought  home  her  father's  bones,  which  rest  near  Wrenthara, 
Mass.     Garneau,  in  his  "  History  of  Canada,"  says  of  the  prin- 


OUR   POLICE.  379 

cipal  witness,  that  "  Black  received  blood  money,  but  it  did  him 
no  good,  as  every  one  he  knew  shunned  him  as  a  traitor.  Over- 
come by  public  contempt,  and  his  mechanical  abilities  failing 
him,  he  fell  into  extreme  penury,  and  might  be  seen,  some  years 
afterwards,  eaten  up  with  vermin,  begging  his  bread  on  the 
streets  of  Quebec." 

In  a  dingy-looking  record  book  of  the  Rhode  Island  State 
Prison  is  to  be  found  the  brief  entry  by  Sheriff  Roger  Williams 
Potter  of  the  last  execution  ever  performed  in  this  State.  Since 
John  Gordon,  convicted  of  the  murder  of  Amasa  Sprague,  no 
person  has  died  on  the  gallows  in  Rhode  Island,  and  that  convic- 
tion undoubtedly  had  much  to  do  with  moulding  public  sentiment 
for  the  subsequent  change  in  the  law.  It  was  a  singular  case 
even  among  celebrated  cases.  Amasa  Sprague,  one  of  the  heads 
of  the  then  great  house  of  Sprague,  in  control  of  an  immense 
estate,  and  exercising,  with  his  brother,  a  dominant  political  in- 
fluence in  the  commonwealth,  was  waylaid  and  stricken  down, 
shot,  and  brutally  beaten  to  death  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon,  while 
pursuing  his  usual  way  from  his  residence  to  his  stock-farm.  It 
was  a  murder  of  the  agrarian  type,  such  as  the  cable  occasionally 
heralds  as  having  occurred  in  the  remoter  regions  of  Ireland.  It 
was  not  for  money  or  plunder — for  the  money  on  the  dead  man's 
person-  was  untouched — but  for  revenge.  Amasa  Sprague  had 
political  and  personal  enemies  of  similar  station  with  himself,  but 
it  was  not  towards  those  that  suspicion  turned.  Circumstances 
pointed  to  a  family,  comparatively  poor  and  obscure,  in  his  own 
town,  as  holding  the  guilty  secret  of  the  tragedy,  and  as  including 
in  their  number  at  least  one  of  the  perpetrators  of  the  deed. 

Nicholas  S.  Gordon,  an  Irishman,  of  ignorant  training  and 
choleric  disposition,  had  accumulated  a  little  money  by  the  sale 
of  rum  and  sundries  near  the  Cranston  Print  Works.  With  the 
money  he  had  saved  he  sent  to  Ireland  and  brought  over  his 
brothers,  William  and  John  Gordon,  a  sister,  and  their  mother. 
Amasa  Sprague  regarded  the  presence  of  Gordon's  rum  shop  as 
demoralizing  to  his  workingmen,  or  alleged  that  he  did,  and  he 
appeared  before  the  Town  Council  in  July,  1843,  to  oppose  the 
renewal  of  Gordon's  license.     This  greatly  angered  Nicholas 


380  OUR  POLICE. 

Gordon,  who  gave  open  utterance  at  his  shop,  before  customers 
and  in  presence  of  his  brothers,  to  severe  threats  against  Amasa 
Sprague.  These  threats  were  received  at  the  time  as  mere  ebul- 
litions of  passing  anger,  but  they  were  quoted  with  terrible  force 
at  the  trial  for  the  murder.  It  was  about  the  very  time  when 
Nicholas  Gordon  was  in  this  excited  and  revengeful  frame  of 
mind  that  his  brothers,  brought  from  Ireland  by  his  bounty, 
became  his  guests,  and  it  was  assumed  by  the  prosecution  that 
they  imbibed  his  hostility  toward  Amasa  Sprague,  and  were  will- 
ing to  be  the  instruments  in  avenging  the  injury  done  to  Nicholas. 
Amasa  Sprague  was  murdered  on  Sunday  afternoon,  December 
31,  1843. 

The  evidence  against  the  Gordons  was  wholly  circumstantial. 
Nicholas  Gordon  was  not  accused  of  committing  the  crime.  It 
was  clear  that  he  could  not  have  committed  it,  and  the  Govern- 
ment admitted  his  averment  of  an  alibi.  He  was  indicted  as  ac- 
cessory before  the  fact,  the  only  proof,  however,  to  sustain  this 
charge  being  his  ownership  of  the  gun  with  which  the  killing  was 
done,  his  alleged  but  less  strongly  established  ownership  of  the 
coat  which  the  murderer,  or  one  of  the  murderers  wore,  and 
which  was  thrown  into  a  thicket  near  the  scene,  and  his  known 
hostility  to  Sprague.  The  presumption  of  the  Government  was 
that  Nicholas  had  urged  on  the  crime,  and  left  the  execution  of 
it  to  William  and  John,  intrusting  his  coat  and  gun  to  the  latter, 
and  himself  resorting  to  the  city,  where  ample  evidence  of  his 
presence  there  could  be  obtained,  should  suspicion  be  directed 
toward  him. 

William  and  John  were  jointly  tried  for  the  murder.  The 
trial  excited  the  deepest  interest.  The  Irish  generally  held  that 
the  Gordons  were  wrongfully  accused.  On  the  other  hand,  all 
the  influence  of  ex-Governor  and  ex-Senator  William  Sprague, 
brother  of  the  deceased,  the  then  wide-spread  prejudice  against 
foreigners,  and  especially  the  Irish,  and  the  public  sentiment, 
which  demanded  a  sacrifice  as  atonement  for  the  terrible  crime, 
were  in  the  scale  against  the  two  poor,  helpless,  ignorant  immi- 
g^jints  on  trial  for  their  lives  in  a  strange  land.  The  jury  were 
of  old  New  England  stock — not  a  foreign  name  in  the  list — and 


OUR   POLICE.  381 

one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Rhode  Island  bar  assisted  the 
Attorney  General.  To  the  credit  of  the  legal  profession  be  it 
said,  however,  that  the  prisoners  were  not  "without  able  and  hon- 
orable, if  unremunerated,  counsel,  and  the  words  of  General 
Carpenter  on  this  subject  are  well  worth  quoting: 

*'  I  cannot  speak  for  mj  colleagues,  but  for  myself  I  have 
never  received,  nor  had  the  promise  of  receiving,  one  single  cent 
for  my  labor  and  services  in  this  cause.  If  I  do  receive  anything 
it  will  be  from  the  gratitude  of  some  persons  of  whom  I  am  now 
ignorant.  But,  gentlemen,  so  long  as  I  am  able  to  stand  in  this 
house  it  shall  not  be  said  that  any  man  on  trial  for  his  life  on  a 
charge  of  murder  was  convicted  because  there  was  no  member  of 
the  Rhode  Island  bar  to  be  found  willing  to  volunteer  his  services 
in  defence  of  the  prisoner." 

The  three  facts  clearly  established  at  the  trial  were  that 
Nicholas  S.  Gordon  had  a  bitterly  hostile  feeling  toward  Amasa 
Sprague,  that  Amasa  Sprague  was  murdered  with  a  gun  belong- 
ing to  Nicholas  S.  Gordon,  and  that  Nicholas  himself  was  not 
near  the  scene  of  the  tragedy.  There  was  also,  as  before  stated, 
strong  evidence  that  the  coat  thrown  away  at  the  same  time  as 
the  gun,  belonged  to  Nicholas  Gordon,  and  was  sometimes  worn 
by  John  Gordon,  and  that  tracks  in  the  snow  led  from  the  place 
of  the  murder  to  the  back  door  of  Nicholas  Gordon's  house,  the 
person  who  made  the  tracks  having  followed  a  direction  that 
would  keep  him  out  of  sight  of  persons  pursuing  the  ordinary 
path.  It  was  also  shown  that  John  Gordon  had  been  seen  with 
ft  gun  on  two  occasions  previous  to  the  murder  in  the  vicinity  of 
where  the  crime  was  committed.  When  accosted  he  said  that  he 
was  after  partridges  and  rabbits.  The  gun  he  carried  then  was 
identified  as  the  gun  of  Nicholas  Gordon,  which  was  used  to 
batter  the  life  out  of  Amasa  Sprague.  William  Gordon  made 
out  so  satisfactory  an  alibi  that  the  Court  directed  his  acquittal. 
John  Gordon  was  found  guilty,  and  hanged  February  14,  1845. 

From  1844  to  the  present  day  the  question  of  John  Gordon's 
guilt  or  innocence  has  been  a  subject  of  discussion  and  difference 
of  opinion.  He  went  to  the  gallows  without  a  confession,  if  he 
had  one  to  make.     If  guilty,  he  may  have  been  actuated  in  this 


382  OUR   POLICE. 

by  a  desire  to  save  his  brother  Nicholas,  whose  fate  was  still  in 
the  balance.  But  while  he  made  no  confession,  Sheriff  Potter 
told  the  Hon.  James  C.  Collins,  who  repeated  the  conversation 
to  the  writer,  that  John  Gordon  never  denied  to  him  that  he  was 
a  party  to  the  killing  of  Amasa  Sprague.  He  did  say  that  ''he 
had  not  shed  any  of  Amasa  Sprague's  blood,"  but  this  was  as  far 
as  he  went.  He  received  in  his  final  hours  the  ministrations  of 
the  Catholic  clergy,  and  walked  to  the  gallows  readily.  On  the 
scaffold,  however,  the  strain  appears  to  have  been  too  much  for 
him ;  his  knees  gave  way,  he  seemed  to  lose  consciousness,  and 
when  Sheriff  Potter  performed  the  closing  act  of  the  tragedy,  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  Gordon's  spirit  had  already  begun  its 
flight  to  another  tribunal,  where  all  mysteries  are  revealed.  In 
this  world,  certainly,  the  circumstances  of  Amasa  Sprague's 
death  have  always  remained  a  secret.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
John  Gordon  was  innocent.  It  is  altogether  probable,  however, 
that  the  actual  killing  was  perpetrated  by  a  friend  and  associate 
of  the  Gordons,  who  disappeared  about  that  time  from  the  vicinity, 
and  was  alluded  to  in  the  indictment  as  a  party  unknown,  and 
that  John  Gordon  was  present  and  aided  in  the  crime,  while 
Nicholas  and  William  had  guilty  knowledge,  and  in  this  sense 
were  accessories. 

John  Gordon's  remains  were  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  pro- 
cession about  one  mile  in  length  of  sympathizers  with  his  family 
and  believers  in  his  innocence.  Nicholas  Gordon  was  twice  put 
on  trial  as  an  accessory  before  the  fact,  and  twice  the  jury  dis- 
agreed. He  was  thereupon  discharged  As  bearing  upon  the 
guilt  or  innocence  of  the  Gordons,  it  may  perhaps  be  significant 
that,  while  the  counsel  for  John  Gordon  did  their  duty  nobly  in 
behalf  of  their  client,  they  were  never  heard  to  express  in  later 
years  an  opinion  that  their  client  was  innocent. 


OUR   POLICE.  383 


Off  AFTER    XXIV. 

AGITATION  FOR  THE  ABOLITION  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. — NO 
EXECUTIONS  AFTER  THAT  OF  GORDON. — WHAT  HAS  BEEN  THE 
EFFECT  OF  ABOLITION  IN  RHODE  ISLAND?  —  PATE  OF  MUR- 
DERERS IN  THE  RHODE  ISLAND  STATE  PRISON.  —  DOOM  TO 
LIFE  IMPRISONMENT  HAS  A  FATAL  INFLUENCE.  —  SPEEDY 
DEATH  OF  A  NUMBER  SO  SENTENCED. — OTHERS  MARCH  ON 
TO  OLD  AGE  AND  IMBECILITY — INTERVIEW  WITH  A  LIFE  PRIS- 
ONER, ROBERT  CROWE. — THE  SAME  IGNOMINY  DOES  NOT  AT- 
TACH TO  RELATIVES. — ABSENCE  OF  FLOWERS  AND  FLUM- 
MERY. 

The  abolition  of  capital  punishment  had  been  agitated  in 
Rhode  Island  a  number  of  years  before  Gordon  was  executed, 
but  the  movement  acquired  an  irresistible  stimulus  from  that 
event.  There  was  the  general  apprehension,  even  among  those 
who  thought  him  guilty,  that  an  innocent  man  might  have  per- 
ished, while  the  humanitarian  sentiment,  always  powerful  in  the 
State,  was  prompted  to  active  proselytism  in  behalf  of  penal  reform. 
Tom  Hazard,  "  Shepherd  Tom"  as  he  was  familiarly  known  to 
thousands,  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  imprisonment  for  life  as 
the  highest  penalty  for  crime,  and  after  much  argument  and 
agitation  the  General  Assembly,  in  1852,  abolished  capital  pun- 
ishment. The  fact  that  from  the  hanging  of  Gordon  in  February, 
1845,  there  had  been  no  execution  of  a  capital  sentence,  indicates 
that  the  new  step  was  in  accord  with  public  feeling  and  prejudice. 
All  sorts  of  propositions  were  offered  to  make  a  life  sentence  suf- 
ficiently miserable  to  gratify  the  vindictive  sentiment,  which, 
according  to  Sir  James  Fitz  James  Stevens,  is  "  one  of  the  safe- 
guards against  crime."  But  it  was  determined  to  treat  the  pris- 
oners for  life  just  as  other  State  prisoners,  with  no  more  leniency 
and  no  less,  except  that  the  life  prisoner  is,  of  course,  deprived  of 
the  gratification  which  the  deducfion  of  time  for  good  conduct  in- 


384  OUR   POLICE. 

spires  in  the  breast  of  him  who  has  to  serve  an  alloted  number  of 
years. 

Rhode  Island  has  now  been  without  capital  punishment  for 
close  upon  forty  years,  and  without  an  execution  for  nearly  half 
a  century.  What  has  been  and  is  the  effect  ?  First,  are  mur- 
ders more  common  ? 

Rhode  Island  has  a  population  exceeding  300,000.  There  are 
confined  in  the  Rhode  Island  State  prison  ten  persons  convicted 
of  murder,  there  being  but  one  degree  of  that  crime  under  the 
statute,  and  the  penalty  imprisonment  for  life.  One  of  the  pris- 
oners, Robert  Crowe,  committed  murder  at  sea,  and  as  the  vessel 
happened  to  put  into  Providence,  he  was  tried  here  in  the  United 
States  Court,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Upon 
the  intercession  of  Governor  Burnside,  in  deference  to  the  pub- 
lic sentiment  against  an  execution  within  the  limits  of  a  State 
where  capital  punishment  had  been  abolished,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  commuted  Crowe's  sentence  to  imprisonment 
for  life  in  the  Rhode  Island  State  prison.  As  Crowe  did  not  be- 
long in  the  State,  his  case  should  not  be  considered  as  a  Rhode 
Island  crime,  thus  leaving  nine  persons  under  sentence  as  mur- 
derers. Since  the  year  1838,  the  total  number  of  persons  com- 
mitted to  the  State  prison  for  murder  has  been  thirty-eight.  Of 
course  this  period  takes  in  the  execution  of  Gordon,  but  with  that 
exception  capital  punishment  may  be  said  to  have  been  abolished 
for  half  a  century.  In  considering  the  number  of  so-called  mur- 
ders however,  it  should  be  remembered  that  offences  which  would 
be  treated  as  manslaughter  in  other  States  are  often  visited  with 
the  highest  penalty  in  Rhode  Island. 

In  Rhode  Island,  when  the  crime  is  murder  in  the  sense  of  the 
deliberate  taking  of  human  life,  the  prisoner  sentenced  almost 
invariably  pays  the  complete  penalty.  The  doom  to  life  impris- 
onment seems  to  have  a  fatal  influence,  more  or  less  speedy,  upon 
the  convict.  Among  comparatively  recent  instances  may  be  cited 
that  of  Walter  Winsor,  a  boy  of  16,  who  brutally  killed  an  aged 
lady  named  Amelia  Potter.  He  entered  the  State  Prison  to  all 
appearances  a  healthy  boy  and  died  two  years  later,  a  victim  to 
depression  and   his  own  evil  habits.     Margaret  Shaw  died  in 


OUR  POLICE.  385 

1885,  after  six  years  of  prison  life.  She  was  an  elderly  woman, 
hale  and  hearty  enough  when  arrested,  and  certainly  received 
good  treatment  in  prison.  Her  disease,  in  its  primary  stage  at 
least,  was  mental.  Cessari  Pacini,  an  Italian  murderer,  sen- 
tenced in  1876,  after  enduring  prison  life  for  ten  years,  executed 
capital  punishment  on  himself  by  hanging  in  his  cell.  Robert 
L.  Casey,  sentenced  in  1875,  died  in  1878.  Francis  Hughes, 
sentenced  in  1873,  died  in  1880.  Lydia  Studley,  who  poisoned 
her  husband,  was  released,  after  thirteen  years,  with  one  foot  in 
the  grave,  to  die  in  the  arms  of  her  faithful  children.  A  more 
striking  case  than  any  of  the  others  is  that  of  Emily  Burton, 
who  pined  into  eternity  a  few  months  after  she  had  been  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  for  life  for  being  accessory  to  the  murder  of 
her  father.  In  no  prison  in  the  world,  probably,  are  convicts 
more  humanely  treated,  and  yet  the  life  prisoner  withers  in  his 
hopeless  confinement  like  a  tropical  plant  in  the  snow. 

Idiocy  and  imbecility  seem  to  be  the  doom  of  those  who  march 
on  to  old  age  in  the  jail.  This  has  been  shown  in  the  case  of 
Mrs.  Studley,  Mrs.  Phetteplace,  and  other  aged  prisoners  who 
were  released  to  die.  The  only  instance  in  the  prison  now  is 
that  of  the  United  States  convict,  Robert  Crowe.  Crowe  has 
been  a  prisoner  since  1867,  being  at  the  time  of  his  commitment 
about  30  years  of  age.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a  most 
refractory  prisoner,  and  the  dark  cell  was  frequently  resorted  to 
for  his  subjection.  Gradually  his  manner  changed.  His  face 
assumed  a  vacant  expression,  and  lost  its  air  of  defiance.  He 
became  almost  childish.  The  olBBcers  of  the  prison  saw  what  the 
matter  was.  His  mind  was  weakening.  He  is  now  allowed  to 
go  about  almost  at  liberty.  He  has  no  desire  to  go  away,  and  it 
would  be  inhuman  to  take  him  away,  for  he  has  no  other  home. 

"  This  is  Robert  Crowe,"  said  Clerk  Frank  Viall  to  the  writer, 
as  a  figure  prematurely  aged  entered  the  hall  of  the  State  Prison. 

The  writer  had  already  been  provided,  by  the  courtesy  of  Mr. 
Viall,  with  a  piece  of  tobacco,  with  which  to  propitiate  Mr.  Crowe, 
who  has  not  forgotten  a  sailor's  liking  for  the  weed,  and  he  duly 
presented  it. 

When  one  sees  the  face  of  a  person,  known  to  be  a  criminal, 


OUR   POLICE. 

it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  detection  of  criminal  characteristics, 
and  the  counterfeit  presentment  of  the  holiest  minister  in  the 
United  States,  if  shown  before  a  group  of  young  ladies,  not  ac- 
quainted with  the  original  or  his  portrait,  as  that  of  a  notorious 
offender,  would  probably  evoke  a  chorus  of  "Oh  my's ! "  and 
general  exclamations  of  horror  and  disgust,  while  in  every  linea- 
ment would  be  detected  some  indication  of  criminal  proclivities. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Crowe  has  a  vicious  face.  It  bears 
the  stamp  of  cunning  malignancy,  of  a  man  who  might  combine 
a  tiger's  craft  with  a  tiger's  ferocity.  With  such  a  face  it  would 
be  difficult  to  be  good.  But  the  fire  has  gone  from  the  tigerish 
eye ;  the  lamp  of  intellect  is  dimmed,  the  tiger  is  a  kitten. 

"You  have  been  here  a  long  while,  Mr.  Crowe,"  said  the 
writer. 

"  Yes  "  (vacantly).     "  Yes ;  quite  a  long  time." 

"Why  did  you  come  here?  "  (With  imbecile  sincerity,  and  a 
weak,  watery  stare) — "  For  nothin'  much — nothin'  much.  A 
case  of  $10  and  costs,"  slowly  drawled  the  prematurely  old  man. 

He  had  even  forgotten  the  crime  of  which  he  was  convicted. 
A  merciful  veil  had  been  drawn  over  his  memory.  In  his  own 
mind,  at  least,  he  was  no  longer  a  murderer.  To  his  mental 
sight  the  brand  of  Cain  had  been  effaced. 

" You  followed  the  sea  at  one  time,  did  you  not?"  said  the 
writer,  trying  to  revive,  if  possible,  some  idea  of  the  past. 

"That's  when  I  was  a  boy.  Yes"  (as  if  thinking);  "  it's  a 
long  time.     A — very — long — time — ago." 

"  Would  you  like  to  go  away  from  the  prison  ?" 

"  Oh — yes.     I — would — like — to — be — out — of — here." 

"  Where  would  you  go  ?" 

Crowe  seemed  to  think  deeply  for  some  time.  Then  at  last 
he  replied:  "I'd — look — for — work,  in — Liverpool — or — • 
London." 

Even  in  this  imbecile  the  love  of  liberty  had  survived  the 
decay  of  memory. 

"  But,**  added  Crowe,  suddenly  turning  to  his  visitor  with 
what  might  have  been  intended  as  an  assumption  of  dignity,  "I 
am  one  of  the  officers  of  the  institution." 


OUR   POLICE.  387 

"Poor  fellow,"  said  Clerk  Viall,  when  he  heard  of  Crowe's 
remark  about  wishing  to  go  awaj.  "  If  he  were  turned  loose  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  prison  he  would  wander  right  back  to 
the  gate  again." 

Robert  Crowe's  case  is  an  illustration  of  what  imprisonment 
for  life  means  for  those  who  lack  the  finer  fibre,  which  wastes 
rapidly  under  disgrace  and  duress.  It  means  a  living  death — 
the  existence  of  an  animated  corpse. 

The  writer  has  already  alluded  to  the  readiness  with  which 
juries  convict  of  the  highest  degree  of  crime,  whereas  as  in  other 
States,  where  capital  punishment  prevails,  the  accused  person 
might  get  ofi"  with  a  few  months'  imprisonment.  One  of  the 
chief  reasons  for  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment  by  law  in 
Rhode  Island,  was  that  juries  had  already  virtually  abolished  it 
by  their  reluctance  to  convict.  For  instance,  there  can  be  no 
manner  of  doubt  that  Nicholas  Gordon  would  have  been  found 
guilty  of  being  accessory  to  the  murder  of  Amasa  Sprague  had 
the  jury  not  known  that,  should  he  be  convicted  wrongfully,  the 
mistake  would  be  irretrievable.  Since  the  adoption  of  imprison- 
ment for  life  there  has  been  no  hesitancy  to  convict  upon  adequate 
evidence,  no  straining  the  construction  of  a  reasonable  doubt. 
In  Providence  County,  during  the  thirty  years  next  following  the 
abolition  of  the  death  penalty,  out  of  twenty-seven  trials  for  mur- 
der there  were  seventeen  convictions.  In  the  same  thirty  years 
in  New  Haven  County,  Connecticut,  the  number  of  trials  for 
murder  in  the  first  degree  was  twenty-three,  and  the  result  was 
three  convictions  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  two  of  the  convicts 
being  hanged,  and  nine  convictions  of  murder  in  the  second 
degree.  In  Massachusetts,  from  1860  to  1882,  both  inclusiye, 
there  were  one  hundred  and  seventy  trials  by  jury  for  murder  in 
the  first  degree.  Twenty-nine  persons  were  convicted  as  charged, 
sixteen  of  whom  were  hanged,  and  one  escaped  the  gallows  by 
suicide.  Twenty-six  were  convicted  of  murder  in  the  second 
degree. 

One  noteworthy  feature  of  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment 
in  Rhode  Island  is  that  the  same  stigma  does  not  attach  to  the 
relatives  of  a  criminal  who  is  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life 


388  OUR   POLICE. 

as  to  the  relatives  of  men  who  have  been  hanged.  The  cultivated 
and  estimable  family  of  Prof.  Webster,  executed  for  the  murder 
of  Dr.  Parkman,  emigrated  from  their  native  land  to  die  friendless 
and  forlorn  on  a  foreign  shore,  on  account  of  the  disgrace  brought 
upon  them  by  his  execution.  Although  innocent,  they  probably 
suffered  fully  as  much  as  did  the  guilty  Professor.  There  are  no 
such  harrowing  scenes  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  innocent  are 
spared  from  being  punished  for  the  guilty.  The  family  and  con- 
nections of  persons  under  life  sentence  remain  in  the  community, 
and  are  not  treated  as  if  any  ignominy  rested  upon  them.  Rhode 
Island  follows  in  this  respect  the  Divine  injunction  that  the 
children  shall  not  suffer  for  the  father  nor  the  father  for  the 
children,  but  each  shall  suffer  for  his  own  sin. 

Another  feature  of  the  execution  of  justice  upon  murderers, 
after  the  Rhode  Island  method,  is  the  absence  of  flowers  and 
flummery.  The  convicted  murderer  here  is  a  very  commonplace 
sort  of  individual.  Ladies  don't  slobber  over  him,  unless  they 
happen  to  be  related  to  him,  and  he  is  not  presented  with  bou- 
quets and  his  health  menaced  with  dyspeptic  delicacies.  The 
cell  and  the  shoe  shop  don't  seem  to  afford  the  same  scope  for 
gush  and  carapaels  as  the  gallows  and  the  death  watch. 

Rhode  Island  is  a  small  and  in  some  respects  a  peculiar  com- 
munity, and  it  is  possible  that  methods  which  flourish  here  might 
be  less  eflScient  and  much  more  diflicult  in  a  commonwealth  of 
larger  and  more  varied  population.  But  in  this  State  the  aboli- 
tion of  capital  punishment  appears  to  have  a  satisfactory  and 
beneficial  effect,  both  as  to  the  protection  of  human  life  and  the 
proper  administration  of  justice.  This  is  so  generally  recog»ized 
that  the  idea  of  a  return  to  capital  punishment  does  not  seem  to 
be  even  entertained  in  any  influential  or  intelligent  quarter,  and 
Rhode  Islanders  look  back  to  the  past  age  of  the  gallows  very 
much  as  other  English-speaking  communities  look  back  to  the 
ra«k  and  the  thumbscrew.  It  is  a  tradition.  More  than  a  gen- 
eration has  passed  since  its  use,  and  the  young  men  of  to-day  have 
to  turn  to  the  older  citizens  for  any  reminiscences  on  the  subject. 


OUB   POLICE.  889 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

NOTORIOUS  CRIMINALS  OF  THE  PAST.  —  "BRISTOL  BILL." — A 
THRILLING  AND  UNWRITTEN  INCIDENT  IN  HIS  HISTORY. — 
"I  WILL  WRITE  HIM  ANOTHER  LETTER." — DRIVEN  MAD  BY 
FEAR   OF    "BRISTOL    BILL. — THE    SPRAGUES   AND   JIM   EDGER- 

TON. — HOW  EDQERTON  CAME  TO  BE  CONVICTED  OF  PERJURY. 

JAMES  HAZARD,  THE  COLORED  RECEIVER. — HIS  LONG  STRUG- 
GLE AGAINST  THE  LAW. — DR.  TAZANT,  THE  COUNTERFEITER. — 
A  BRILLIANT  EXPLOIT  OF  DETECTIVE  SWAN. — THE  DETECTIVE 
CAUGHT  IN  A  COAL-SHUTE.— A  PROMigT  ARREST  OF  BURGLARS. 

Some  notorious  criminals  figured  in  Rhode  Island  in  the  old 
days  of  the  watch,  and  none  were  more  notorious  than  William  H. 
Warburton,  alias  "  Bristol  Bill."  A  history  of  Warburton  would 
fill  a  good-sized  book.  His  career,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
entitled  him  to  a  prominent  niche  in  the  catacomb  of  infamy,  and 
equalled,  in  romantic  and  daring  adventure,  that  of  any  outlaw 
in  the  realm  of  reality  or  of  fiction.  In  Rhode  Island  he  perpe- 
trated some  of  his  boldest  robberies,  and  in  Rhode  Island,  he 
essayed  and  was  given  the  opportunity  to  reform — an  opportunity 
of  which,  however,  he  but  briefly  availed  himself.  Like  many 
another  outlaw,  he  had  the  deep  and  faithful  dev^otion  of  a 
woman — his  lawful  wife,  and  a  planner  and  partner  in  his  crimes. 
Her  remains  havo  long  reposed  beneath  the  sod  of  a  Providence 
cemetery,  her  guilt  and  love  alike  forgotten,  her  very  resting 
place  almost  unknown. 

To  one  incident  in  the  life  of  "Bristol  Bill  "  we  propose  to 
allude,  because,  although  the  facts  were  suppressed  from  publica- 
tion, they  created  a  deep  sensation  among  the  many  prominent 
citizens  to  whom  they  became  known,  and  some  of  whom  dis- 
covered, to  their  great  astonishment,  that  they  had  been  unwit- 
ting receivers  of  stolen  goods.  William  H.  Hudson  was  City 
Marshal,  when  "Bristol  Bill,"  released  from  the  Vermont  State 


890  OUR    POLICE. 

Prison,  came  to  Providence,  broken  down  by  nine  years'  incar- 
ceration, to  recover  his  health,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  replenish 
his  purse.  He  found  a  refuge  with  James  Edgerton,  the  bank 
robber.  Not  long  after  his  arrival  "Bristol  Bill"  determined  to 
rob  the  Westminster  Bank.  The  same  night  that  he  had  selected 
for  breaking  into  the  bank  was  chosen  by  two  of  Edgerton's 
associates  for  the  robbery  of  a  grocer's  shop,  on  High  street.  The 
watch  happened  along  just  as  the  plunder  from  the  grocery  shop 
was  being  rolled  along  the  street.  The  two  petty  oifenders  saw 
the  approach  of  the  patrol  and  ran,  making  their  escape.  "  Bristol 
Bill,"  with  burglar's  tools  on  his  person,  with  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  open  the  bank,  almost  ran  into  the  arms  of  the  watchmen, 
who  at  once  took  him  to  the  station,  on  the  charge  of  breaking 
into  the  shop,  never  for  a  moment  suspecting  the  crime  he  had 
really  planned  to  commit,  and  being  equally  ignorant  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  capture,  and  the  identity  of  their  prisoner. 

When  asked  his  name,  "Bristol  Bill"  gave  that  of  "Charles 
Arthur."  A  day  or  two  after  his  arrest  and  arraignment  a  mys- 
terious stranger  visited  the  law  office  of  Lycurgus  Sayles,  Esq., 
then  recently  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  anxious,  as  all  young 
attorneys  are,  to  distinguish  himself.  The  mysterious  stranger 
put  down  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece  as  a  retainer,  and  told  Mr. 
Sayles  to  go  over  to  the  jail  and  consult  with  the  man,  Charles 
Arthur,  who  had  just  been  arrested.  "  It  is  all  the  money  I  can 
spare  now,"  said  the  visitor.  "Do  your  best  to  get  him  out  of 
this,  and,  depend  upon  it,  you  will  be  compensated."  "But  how 
is  he  to  know  that  I  am  requested  to  be  his  attorney  by  a  person 
acting  sincerely  in  his  behalf?"  asked  Mr.  Sayles.  The  stranger 
hesitated,  and  at  length  replied:  "If  he  hangs  back,  and  does 
not  put  confidence  in  you,  go  up  to  him,  and,  when  no  one  else 
can  hear  but  him,  whisper,  ^  Bristol  Bill !'  "  Mr.  Sayles  followed 
the  instructions  given.  He  never  for  an  instant  thought  he  was 
dealing  with  the  real  "Bristol  Bill,"  but  that  the  name  was  a 
sort  of  password  that  would  be  recognized.  The  appearance  of 
the  man,  however,  was  striking.  He  had  a  keen,  observant  eye, 
that  watched  without  seeming  to  look,  a  cautious,  cat-like  tread, 
and  a  quiet,  deliberate  tone  of  voice.     He  thought  at  first  that 


OUR   POLICE.  891 

Mr.  Sayles  might  be  a  city  official  sent  **  to  quiz  him,"  and  so 
remarked,  but  a  correct  description  of  the  mysterious  stranger, 
and  the  words  "Bristol  Bill,"  at  once  reassured  him. 

"Bristol  Bill"  was  a  sick  man,  and  his  trial  was  postponed  on 
evidence  to  this  effect.  Meantime  he  was  anxious  to  get  out  on 
bail,  which  was  placed  at  $1,000.  He  told  Mr.  Sayles  that  many 
years  before,  when  he  lived  in  Providence,  he  had  been  connected 
in  crime  with  a  man  who  then  stood  well  in  Providence  society, 
was  apparently  in  affluent  circumstances,  and  had  dealings,  as  a 
gold  refiner,  with  the  largest  jewelry  houses.  The  statement 
amazed  Mr.  Sayles,  especially  when  "  Bristol  Bill"  added :  "  He 
owes  me  a  balance  of  ?3,000  on  our  last  settlement,  that  amount 
being  due  to  me  from  the  Currier-Trott  robbery  in  Boston."  This 
was  one  of  the  most  famous  robberies  that  ever  occurred  in  the 
United  States.  "  I  will  write  him  a  letter,"  said  "  Bristol  Bill," 
"asking  him  to  come  and  bail  me."  "Bristol  Bill"  wrote  the 
letter.  It  was  a  mild  appeal,  in  respectful  language,  and  the 
only  allusion  to  the  past  was  in  the  signature,  a  name  by  which 
"  Bristol  Bill"  had,  he  said,  been  known  to  the  gold-refiner  many 
years  before.  Bragunn,  of"  Bragunn's  Arcade,"  was  then  office- 
boy  for  Mr.  Sayles.  He  delivered  the  letter.  The  recipient 
read  it,  asked  who  the  attorney  was,  and,  upon  being  told,  ad- 
vised the  boy  coldly  to  go  back  and  inform  Mr.  Sayles  that  he — 
the  refiner — did  not  propose  to  go  bail  for  this  one  and  that  one, 
and  he  therefore  declined. 

Mr.  Sayles  carried  the  answer  to  "Bristol  Bill."  "I  will 
write  him  another  letter,"  the  latter  quietly  said.  He  wrote  a 
communication  of  the  most  damning  character,  reciting  the 
various  crimes  in  which  he  claimed  to  have  been  connected  with  * 
the  gold  refiner,  and  this  time  signed  it,  "  William  H.  Warbur- 
ton,  alias  Bristol  Bill."  Mr.  Sayles  was  almost  afraid  to  send 
the  note.  He  went  out  on  the  street,  and,  seeing  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Davis,  and  another  gentleman  then  well-known,  he  called 
them  into  his  office.  He  read  the  letter.  The  astonishment  of 
Mr.  Davis,  whose  firm  had  often  bought  gold  from  the  refiner  in 
question,  may  be  imagined  by  those  who  know  that  sterling  old 
man.     Two  copies  of  the  letter  were  made,  one  of  which  Mr. 


392  OUR   POLICE. 

Sayles  retained,  and  young  Bragunn  was  sent  with  the  original 
to  the  person  addressed. 

Much  sooner  than  Mr.  Sayles  expected  the  boy  came  running 
back,  his  bulging  eyes  showing  that  he  had  encountered  a  recep- 
tion he  did  not  meet  with  every  day.  In  answer  to  his  employer 
he  said :  "  Just  as  soon  as  the  man  read  the  letter,  he  fell  back 
against  the  wall,  deadly  pale.  Then  in  a  minute  or  two  he  cried, 
*  Get  out  of  here,  you  young  scamp,  and  don't  come  in  here 
again!'" 

Three  days  later  the  gold  refiner  walked  Westminster  street  a 
raving  maniac.  He  was  committed  to  a  hospital  for  the  insane, 
and  died  without  having  recovered  his  reason.  "Bristol  Bill" 
was  used  by  the  police  of  Boston,  with  the  leave  of  the  Rhode 
Island  officials,  in  detecting  certain  mysterious  crimes,  which  he 
did  successfully,  and,  on  the  intercession  of  the  Massachusetts 
authorities,  the  charge  against  him  in  Rhode  Island  was  dropped. 
He  died,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty,  a  criminal  to  the  last. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Jim  Edgerton  came  to  the  end 
of  his  criminal  career  in  a  singular  fashion.  He  confided  to  an 
associate  that  he  was  planning  to  kill  and  rob  Amasa  Sprague, 
the  brother  of  ex-Governor  Sprague.  Amasa  was  in  the  habit 
of  driving  from  the  city,  late  at  night,  with  considerable  sums  of 
money  on  his  person,  and  Edgerton  meant  to  waylay  him.  The 
associate,  a  weak  sort  of  fellow  for  the  veteran  bank-robber  to 
entrust  his  secrets  to,  repeated  Edgerton's  statement.  It  came 
to  the  ears  of  Amasa  Sprague,  then  a  power  in  Rhode  Island, 
and  he  resolved  that  Edgerton  should  be  put  where  he  could  do 
no  harm.  How  to  do  it,  was  the  question.  Edgerton  had  per- 
jured himself  in  a  replevin  suit,  but  this  form  of  perjury  was  be- 
lieved to  be  so  common  that  it  was  not  likely  any  prosecution 
would  be  instituted.  The  Spragues,  however,  had  the  matter 
taken  up  by  a  private  party  in  Cranston,  one  of  the  Sprague 
lawyers  acting  as  prosecutor.  The  case  was  pushed  with  vigor, 
and  Edgerton  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprison- 
ment. This  was  in  1867.  He  did  not  live  to  serve  out  the 
sentence. 

Another  well-known  offender  of  ante-war  times  was  James 


J.  CRAWFORD  POTTER. 


OUR   POLICE.  395 

Hazard,  a  colored  man  who  kept  a  second-hand  clothing- shop  on 
South  Main  street.  Constable  J.  Crawford  Potter  was  chiefly 
instrumental  in  detecting  and  bringmg  Hazard  to  punishment  as 
a  receiver  of  stolen  goods,  a  business  which  he  conducted  on  a 
very  extensive  scale,  while  at  the  same  time  posing  as  a  church 
member,  and  a  leader  among  the  colored  citizens.  Constable 
(then  watchman),  William  H.  Pullen,  still  in  hale  health,  who 
can  remember  seeing  men  whipped  in  the  court-house  yard,  and 
who  assisted  in  the  execution  of  Gordon,  gave  valuable  aid  in 
the  capture  of  Hazard.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  Haz- 
ard's case  was  the  determined  and  tenacious  manner  in  which  he 
was  upheld  and  defended  by  persons  who  stood  very  high  in 
Providence  society,  even  after  conclusive  and  positive  proof  of 
his  guilt. 

The  first  case  of  peculiar  interest,  under  the  present  police 
organization,  was  that  of  "  Dr.  Tazant."  In  the  autumn  of 
1865,  Detective  James  0.  Swan  and  Thomas  J.  A.  Gross  (after- 
ward Chief  of  Police,  and  now  deceased),  arrested  a  man  in  this 
city  for  passing  counterfeit  money.  In  the  prisoner's  possession 
was  found  a  letter  mailed  from  Albany  that  morning,  in  which 
had  been  contained  the  fraudulent  money  he  had  attempted  to 
pass.  The  letter  was  signed  "  x  t  x,"  but  the  prisoner  declined 
to  give  any  information  as  to  the  writer.  As  to  the  party  ar- 
rested, it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  three  years  in  State's  Prison.  He  served  his  term. 
In  his  shop  the  officers  found  an  envelope  directed  to  "  Dr. 
Tazant,  Albany,  N.  Y."  Possessed  of  no  clue  save  the  name 
upon  the  envelope,  Messrs.  Swan  and  Gross  proceeded  to  Albany 
to  look  up  "Dr.  Tazant."  At  that  time  the  cities  of  Albany 
and  Troy  were  infested  by  counterfeiters,  and  noted  for  the 
manufacture  and  circulation  of  spurious  notes.  The  officers 
arrived  in  the  evening  and  introduced  themselves  to  the  City 
Marshal.  That  official  informed  them  that  a  man,  ostensibly  a 
physician,  and  representing  himself  as  Dr.  Tazant,  was  living  in 
style  on  a  certain  street.  He  added  that  the  reputation  of  the 
pretended  doctor  was  bad,  and  that  he  had  actually  been  arrested 
by  United  States'  officers,  three  weeks  before,  on  suspicion  of 


396  OUJR   POLICE. 

counterfeiting  coinage,  and  his  house  thoroughly  searched,  but 
without  success.  The  City  Marshal  was  entirely  willing,  how- 
ever, to  second  any  measures  which  the  Rhode  Island  officers 
might  choose  to  adopt,  and  directed  his  captain  of  police  to 
assist  them. 

Before  daylight  the  next  morning  Mr.  Gross  applied  at  the 
doctor's  office  as  a  patient  requiring  treatment,  and  obtained 
admission.  He  was  closely  followed  by  Mr.  Swan  and  the  Al- 
bany police  captain.  As  soon  as  they  were  all  fairly  within, 
they  made  their  business  known.  The  doctor  laughed,  and  said 
he  had  no  objection  whatever  to  a  search  of  his  premises,  at  the 
same  time  picking  up  a  number  of  small  bottles  from  a  table  and 
placing  them  in  a  box  resembling  a  lady's  work-box.  The  police- 
men at  once  began  their  search,  which  lasted  from  daylight  until 
half-past  four  in  the  afternoon.  They  found  $1,400  of  good 
money,  but  no  vestige  of  any  that  was  counterfeited.  The  search 
had  been  thorough,  but  unsuccessful,  and  they  felt  almost  dis- 
couraged. Meantime  Dr.  Tazant  eyed  them  coolly,  but  with  a 
sneering  expression,  as  he  calmly  regaled  himself  with  a  choice 
Havana.  Must  they  give  up  and  return  to  Providence — thought 
Messrs.  Swan  and  Gross — only  to  be  bantered  on  the  fruitless , 
result  of  their  journey  ? 

All  at  once  Mr.  Swan  happened  to  cast  his  eyes  on  the  box 
before  mentioned,  which  stood  on  the  table.  He  took  it  up, 
glancing  at  the  doctor's  face  as  he  did  so.  There  was  no  sneer 
there  now.  Mr.  Swan  removed  the  bottles  and  other  contents. 
It  appeared  like  an  ordinary  box,  and  he  was  about  to  replace 
the  vials,  when  he  detected  a  bit  of  paper  in  the  joint  between 
the  side  and  bottom.  To  raise  the  box  over  his  head  and  bring 
it  down  upon  the  table  with  force  enough  to  break  it  to  pieces  was 
the  work  of  a  moment,  and  there  lay  revealed  about  four  thousand 
dollars  in  counterfeit  notes. 

The  eyes  of  Dr.  Tazant  fairly  blazed  as  he  sprang  forward, 
and  Mr.  Swan  saw  and  interpreted  the  danger-signal.  But  the 
detected  criminal  quickly  took  counsel  of  prudence,  and  said : 
"  Gentlemen,  the  game  is  up  ;  but  you  can't  make  anything  out 
of  this.     Now,  just  take  the  $1,400  of  good  money,  and  let  that 


OUR   POLICE.  397 

end  it."  The  offer  was  declined  and  the  doctor  held  m  custody. 
Among  his  papers  Mr.  Swan  found  one  signed  by  President  Fill- 
more, pardoning  Ralph  Osborn,  the  real  name  of  '*  Dr.  Tazant,'* 
from  the  State  Prison  at  Albany,  to  which  he  had  been  sentenced 
for  counterfeiting  silver  dollars.  He  was  arraigned,  charged  with 
making  and  uttering  counterfeit  notes,  waived  examination,  and 
was  bailed  in  the  sum  of  $5,000.  He  forfeited  his  bail  and  fled. 
Three  months  later  he  was  again  arrested  in  Philadelphia,  and  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  counterfeits  found  in  his  possession. 
He  was  committed,  but  the  next  morning  the  officers  found  only 
an  empty  cell,  and  we  are  unable  to  follow  any  further  the 
fortunes  of  "Dr.  Tazant." 

About  five  years  later,  when  "William  Knowles  was  Chief  of 
Police,  a  service  was  required  of  Mr.  Swan,  in  which,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  he  was  completely  foiled.  A  small  boy  was 
arrested  by  a  down-town  policeman  for  stealing  pennies.  When 
questioned  at  the  Central  Station  the  next  morning,  the  lad  con- 
fessed the  theft  to  the  Chief,  and  said  he  would  go  and  point  out 
the  place  where  he  had  hidden  the  coin.  Mr.  Knowles  requested 
Mr.  Swan  to  go  with  him,  and  Chief,  detective,  and  small  boy 
started  for  the  scene.  The  little  fellow  led  the  treasure-seekers 
down  South  Water  street  to  the  coal-yard  of  Peck  &  Salisbury, 
where  a  halt  was  ordered.  The  pennies  were  secreted  "  away  up 
there,"  said  the  boy,  pointing  to  a  distant  coal-shute,  and,  pro- 
ceeding to  the  spot  indicated,  the  boy  began  to  climb  a  post  to 
reach  the  shute,  which  was  about  fourteen  feet  above  the  bottom 
of  the  coal-bins.  The  Chief  remained  on  the  street,  and  Mr. 
Swan,  not  to  be  outdone  in  gymnastics  by  the  youthful  prisoner, 
started  up  after  him.  The  boy  clambered  along  the  top  of  the 
shute,  saying  the  pennies  were  hidden  under  the  further  end, 
when  suddenly  he  jumped  down  into  the  bin  beneath.  Mr.  Swan 
instantly  jumped  after  him,  but,  a  second  too  late,  discovered  that 
he  had  made  a  miscalculation  and  got  into  "  the  wrong  box  ;** 
that  is,  the  nearly  empty  bin  adjoining.  The  shock  of  descending 
fourteen  feet  without  any  previous  advertisement  of  a  trapeze 
performance,  naturally  bewildered  the  officer,  and  before  he  could 
realize  the  situation,  the  little  rascal  who  had  led  him  into  tho 


898  OUR   POLICE. 

predicament  scrambled  through  a  diminutive  opening  on  the 
other  side  of  the  partition,  and  was  at  liberty.  Not  so  his  late 
custodian,  however.  In  the  midst  of  darkness  that  might  be 
felt,  and  half-strangled  by  clouds  of  coal-dust,  which  he  had  dis- 
lodged in  his  descent,  Mr.  Swan  lifted  up  his  yoice  and  loudly 
yelled  for  some  one  to  deliver  him  from  the  black  hole,  in  which 
he  was  being  gradually  suffocated.  Meantime  the  Chief  was 
patiently  pacing  the  street  in  front  of  the  coal-yard,  waiting  for 
Mr.  Swan  to  return  with  the  boy  and  the  bullion.  Chief  Wil- 
liam Knowles  was  a  meditative  man,  much  given  to  abstract 
thought,  and  his  ears  were  deaf  to  the  appealing  song  of  the 
Swan,  who  just  at  that  moment  bore  an  intimate  resemblance  to 
the  black  swan  of  Australia.  After  calling  in  vain,  the  detective 
concluded  to  climb  out  of  the  coal-bin.  This  feat  he  accom- 
plished, after  much  tribulation,  but  no  thief  would  have  been 
tempted  to  steal  the  suit  of  summer  clothing  he  wore  that  day. 
The  Chief  greeted  his  appearance  with :  "Where's  the  boy?" 
The  reply  was  very  concise,  very  explicit,  and,  considering  the 
circumstances,  not  very  profane.  "  Well,  we  may  as  well  not  say 
anything  about  this,"  was  the  Chief's  response. 

One  of  the  most  expeditious  arrests  of  burglars  on  record  was 
in  the  spring  of  1869.  The  residence  of  Mr.  Christopher  Lip- 
pitt,  on  Hope  street,  was  broken  into.  Late  at  night  a  member 
of  the  family  heard  the  burglars  at  work,  and  gave  an  alarm,  but 
they  escaped  before  aid  could  be  brought  to  secure  them,  bearing 
away  about  five  hundred  dollars  worth  of  silver  plate.  Detec- 
tives Swan  and  Knowles  (John  M.  Knowles,  afterward  Chief  of 
Police,  and  now  Superintendent  of  the  Dexter  Asylum)  were 
notified  of  the  afiair  the  next  morning,  just  as  they  were  about* 
to  leave  the  Central  Station.  They  went  'out  together,  with  no 
definite  plan  of  operation,  and  had  hardly  reached  the  pavement, 
when  three  men  were  observed  to  emerge  from  one  of  the  hostel- 
ries  on  Canal  street,  and  gaze  up  and  down,  as  if  strangers  in 
the  city.  Their  conduct  appeared  suspicious  to  the  detectives, 
just  then  very  anxious  to  suspect  somebody.  Messrs.  Swan  and 
Knowles  followed  the  strangers  up  to  Otis  street,  and,  stepping 
quickly  up  to  them,  took  them  in  custody,  and  to  the  station* 


OUR  POLICE.  399 

As  they  reached  the  door,  the  prisoners  made  a  spring  for  liberty. 
Mr.  Swan,  by  a  sudden  push,  landed  two  of  them,  Charles  Will- 
iams and  John  Feely,  in  the  entry,  but  the  third,  named  George 
Calamity,  broke  away.  Meeting  a  man  in  Arsenal  lane  who 
tried  to  intercept  him,  the  fugitive  knocked  him  down,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  Benefit  street,  where  he  was  captured  by 
officers  Charles  and  John  Oakes,  and  brought  back  to  the  station 
by  Mr.  Knowles.  The  plate  was  all  found  upon  the  prisoners, 
who  were  in  due  course  convicted  and  sent  to  State  Prison. 
Skeleton  keys,  key  nippers  and  jimmy  proved  them  to  be  profes- 
sional criminals.  The  stolen  plate  was  returned  to  Mrs.  Lippitt 
that  very  morning,  and  the  lady  was  surprised  with  several  articles 
which  she  had  not  then  missed.  Burglars  have  been  arrested  in 
the  act  of  robbery,  or  immediately  after  the  crime,  when  the 
police  have  been  warned  and  on  the  watch  for  an  expected  at- 
tempt, but  in  this  instance  the  detectives,  without  any  clue  to 
work  upon,  caught  the  burglars,  and  recovered  the  stolen  property 
within  ten  minutes  after  they  had  heard  of  the  robbery. 


400  OUR  POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

BX-SERGEANT  FREDERICK  W.  PERRY. — HIS  FIGHT  FOR  LIFE 
TWENTY-THREE  YEARS  AGO. — AN  HONORABLE  RECORD. — THB 
MURDER  OF  JOSEPH  G.  CLARK,  AT  WORCESTER. — A  WOMAN's 
JEALOUSY  DETECTS  THE  CRIMINALS. — ARREST  OF  SILAS  AND 
ESCAPE  OF  CHARLES  JAMES. — FROM  WOONSOCKET  TO  PROVI- 
DENCE IN  SIXTY-FIVE  MINUTES. — ARREST  OF  CHARLES  JAMES 
IN   OLNEYVILLE. — CONVICTION  AND   EXECUTION. 

On  a  quiet  farm,  in  the  town  of  Barrington,  R.  I.,  resides  an 
ex-member  of  the  Providence  Police  Force,  whose  record  is 
worthy  of  more  than  the  brief  mention  of  his  appointment  to 
the  office  of  Sergeant  twenty-four  years  ago.  Thirty- two  years 
have  left  their  imprint  on  the  ledger  of  time  since  ex-Sergeant 
Frederick  W.  Perry,  then  a  stalwart,  handsome  young  man,  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  watchman  in  the  streets  and  by-ways  of 
Providence.  Mr.  Perry  was  on  the  night  patrol,  and  to  James 
Y.  Smith,  afterward  War  Governor,  he  owed  his  appointment. 
When  the  force  was  organized  under  Mayor  Doyle,  Mr.  Perry, 
promoted  to  Sergeant,  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Second  Dis- 
trict. That  section  of  the  city  was  very  different  then  from 
to-day.  Scenes  of  outlawry  were  frequent ;  ruffian  gangs  took 
pleasure  in  assaulting  the  police  whenever  they  thought  them- 
selves in  sufficient  numbers  to  overpower  an  officer,  and  the 
dangerous  element  had  yet  to  learn  that  they  were  dealing  with 
an  efficient  and  disciplined  force.  Sergeant  Perry  never  hesitated 
to  oliey  the  call  of  duty.  He  followed  the  criminals  to  their  dens, 
and  fearlessly  enforced  the  laws  and  ordinances  which  it  was  in- 
cumbent on  all  to  obey.  Naturally  the  ruffian  and  criminal  class 
feared  and  hated  him. 

Their  opportunity  came  one  evening  in  June,  1865.  Sergeant 
Perry  was  in  the  station-house  when,  shortly  after  roll-call,  a 
citizen  rushed  in  and  complained  that  he  had  been  robbed  on  the 


OUR  POLICE.  401 

public  highway.  He  described  the  robbers  accurately,  and  Ser- 
geant Perry  at  once  sallied  forth  to  capture  them.  The  Sergeant 
arrested  a  man  answering  the  description — a  stout  young  fellow, 
then  known  as  a  rough,  and  since  notorious  in  several  prize-fights. 
The  prisoner  went  along  quietly  enough  until,  on  Charles  street 
near  Orms,  he  encountered  a  half-drunken  party  of  ruffians,  who 
at  once  recognized  him  as  a  friend  and  brother  in  distress.  Em- 
boldened by  their  demonstrations  of  sympathy,  the  prisoner  tried 
to  break  away  from  the  Sergeant.  Mr.  Perry,  himself  a  power- 
ful man,  held  the  captive  in  a  grip  that,  without  outside  interfer- 
ence, would  have  proved  more  than  a  vise  for  his  prize-fighting 
antagonist.  The  Sergeant's  tenacity  maddened  the  crowd,  and 
they  assailed  him  with  fist,  stick  and  stone.  Bruised,  struggling 
and  nearly  overcome,  the  Sergeant  was  about  to  have  recourse  to 
his  revolver,  when  he  observed  a  woman  and  children,  innocent 
and  affrighted  onlookers  of  the  scene.  Fearing  that  a  stray 
bullet  might  hit  one  of  them,  he  withheld  from  shooting.  The 
assailants,  emboldened  by  his  humanity,  became  more  furious, 
overpowered  him,  and  bore  him  prostrate  and  bleeding  to  the 
pavement.  There  they  continued  to  assault  him  with  blows  and 
kicks,  and  the  result  would  probably  have  been  fatal  to  Mr. 
Perry,  but  for  the  appearance  at  this  moment  of  Mr.  William 
Miller.  Comprehending  at  a  glance  that  desperate  action  was 
necessary,  if  the  officer's  life  was  to  be  saved,  Mr.  Miller  drew  a 
knife,  and  dashing  into  the  crowd,  threatened  to  slay  the  first 
who  should  inflict  another  blow.  The  cowards  recoiled.  Mr. 
Perry  was  removed  to  his  home.  From  that  day  he  has  been  an 
invalid. 

The  authorities  recognized  that  Mr.  Perry  had  been  terribly 
disabled  in  the  cause  of  duty,  and  his  pay  was  continued  during 
the  three  months  it  took  him  to  recover  sufficiently  to  be  about. 
In  February,  1866,  Mr.  Perry  was  transferred  as  Night  Sergeant 
to  the  Central  Station,  and  remained  in  that  position  until  1871, 
"when  he  resigned  to  accept  charge  of  the  State  Insane  Depart- 
ment at  Cranston.  He  filled  that  important  trust  for  eleven 
years,  and  when  increasing  physical  infirmity  signified  the  wisdom 
of  retirement,  he  took  with  him  to  his  country  home  the  esteem 


402  OUR   POLICE. 

and  well-wishes  of  all,  both  officials  and  wards,  who  had  known 
him.  With  all  his  physical  infirmity  Mr.  Perry's  eye  is  as  bright 
and  his  mind  as  clear  as  when  the  writer  of  these  lines,  then  a 
youthful  reporter  on  the  Journal^  first  encountered  him  at  his 
post  in  the  Central  Station. 

Mention  of  the  period  of  Sergeant  Perry's  service  recalls  an 
event  which,  at  the  time,  created  a  great  sensation,  not  only  in 
Providence,  but  also  in  the  neighboring  State  of  Massachusetts — 
the  murder  of  Joseph  G.  Clark  at  Worcester.  A  woman's 
jealousy  led  to  the  timely  discovery  of  this  crime,  which  was 
perpetrated  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  February,  1868.  The 
victim,  Clark,  was  a  professional  gambler,  well-known  in  this 
city.  He  had  resided  in  Worcester  for  several  years,  and  occu- 
pied rooms  in  the  third-story  of  the  Union  Block  on  Main  street. 
One  of  these  rooms  contained  a  faro  table.  Another  was  a 
sleeping  apartment.  For  an  intimate  associate  he  had  a  Mrs. 
Eaton,  a  young  widow,  of  attractive  features,  who  lived  on  Sum- 
mer street,  Worcester.  Mrs.  Eaton  was  devoted  to  Clark.  They 
sometimes  met  at  her  home,  and  sometimes  in  his  rooms.  On 
the  evening  of  the  crime  Clark  supped  with  the  woman  at  her 
residence,  going  afterward  to  his  own  abode.  About  a  (Quarter 
before  seven  o'clock  Mrs.  Eaton  went  to  Clark's  apartments, 
presumably  by  appointment,  to  meet  him  there.  She  had  a  key 
to  the  rooms,  in  order  that  she  might  be  able  to  enter  at  any  time 
without  disturbance.  This  time  the  key  met  an  obstruction. 
She  could  not  open  the  door,  and  the  obstruction  evidently  was 
a  key  on  the  inside.  Some  noise  within  satisfied  her  that  Clark 
was  there.  She  talked  to  him  through  the  door,  begging  for 
admittance.  There  was  no  reply.  She  concluded  that  he  had 
company  he  did  not  wish  her  to  see.  It  might  be  a  man ;  it 
might  be  a  woman — the  latter  she  feared.  Jealousy  raged  in 
her  heart.  For  two  long  hours  she  continued  to  plead  for  en- 
trance— ^but  no  reply  came  to  her  almost  agonizing  appeal.  All 
the  time  occasional  noises  within  proved  to  her  mind  that  Clark 
was  there.  She  determined  on  a  new  course  to  make  sure  of  the 
identity  of  the  rival  she  dreaded  and  hated,  without  knowing. 
Her  woman's  wit  fixed  upon  a  plan  which  proved  successful  and 


OUR  POLICE.  403 

effective,  but  in  a  way  very  different  from  what  she  anticipated. 
"If  you  have  private  company,"  she  said  through  the  door, 
"  that  you  do  not  wish  me  to  see,  I  will  go  to  the  Bay  State 
House,  wait  for  half  an  hour,  and  if  you  do  not  come  after  me, 
I  will  come  back  to  your  room  alone."  Then  Mrs.  Eaton  walked 
down  the  stairs,  taking  care  that  her  footsteps  would  be  heard  in 
Clark's  apartments.  Then,  stealthily  and  noiselessly,  she  crept 
up  the  stairs  again,  to  a  landing  above  Clark's  door.  There  she 
sat  down  to  wait,  herself  free  from  observation,  but  command- 
ing a  view  of  the  door  below,  and  of  any  one  who  might  emerge 
fipom  it. 

Mrs.  Eaton  had  not  to  remain  much  longer  in  suspense. 
About  twenty  minutes  past  nine  she  heard  a  slight  movement  in 
the  lock  of  Clark's  door.  The  door  opened,  and,  instead  of  a 
woman,  two  men  stole  quietly  out,  and  down  the  stairs,  after  lock- 
ing the  door.  Their  coats  were  about  their  heads,  but  she  saw 
their  faces,  and  recognized  them  both.  A  moment  later  Mrs. 
Eaton  was  in  the  apartments  of  her  lover.  Entering  the  room 
where  the  faro  table  stood  she  noticed  a  dark  spot  on  the  floor; 
but  none  of  the  furniture  was  displaced.  She  tried  the  door  of 
the  sleeping-room,  and  found  it  locked.  But  an  odor  of  smoke 
came  from  the  interior,  and  she  could  see  a  flickering  light 
through  crevices  in  the  doorway.  She  then  went  into  the  hall, 
and  gained  the  sleeping-room  by  another  entrance.  On  a  mat- 
tress raised  slightly  from  the  floor  lay  the  body  of  Clark, 
enveloped  in  flames. 

Mrs.  Eaton  rushed  out  and  called  for  assistance,  and  citizens 
and  the  police  hastened  to  the  scene,  extinguished  the  flames,  and 
then  at  leisure  examined  the  work  of  the  murderers.  The  dark 
spot  in  the  main  room  was  where  the  victim  had  been  stricken 
down.  Clark's  head  had  been  split  open  with  a  hatchet,  and  a 
piece  of  rope  was  knotted  around  his  neck,  and  the  stove  poker 
used  as  a  tourniquet  with  which  to  strangle  him.  He  had  been 
struck  down  and  strangled  in  the  outer  room,  and  the  body  car- 
ried into  the  inner  chamber,  a  kerosene  lamp  broken  over  the 
head  and  clothing,  and  then  fire  set  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
the  ghastly  evidence.     A  large  sum  of  money  and  the  victim's 


404  OUR   POLICE. 

watch  were  missing,  but  $1400  in  United  States  bonds  had  e»- 
caped  the  plunderers. 

Mrs.  Eaton  had  recognized  one  of  the  men  whom  she  saw 
leaving  the  room  as  Silas  James,  commonly  known  among  gam- 
blers as  "  General  "  James.  His  companion  was  believed  to  be 
Charles  T.  James.  Both  were  well-known  in  Providence,  in  the 
vicinity  of  which  they  lived.  Silas  James  was  a  wicked- looking 
gambler  of  about  thirty-five  years  of  age;  the  other,  Charles, 
his  cousin,  a  good  looking,  but  weak-willed  young  man  of  twenty- 
two.  The  previous  reputation  of  the  younger  James  was  not  bad, 
and  he  was  undoubtedly  led  into  crime  by  his  older  associate.  The 
Worcester  police  sought  the  two  men  at  the  Western  depot,  where 
they  succeeded  in  arresting  Silas  James.  Charles  saw  the  officers 
in  time  to  evade  them.  Silas  vigorously  denied  any  connection 
with  the  crime.  Word  was  telegraphed  to  Woonsocket  and  Prov- 
idence, it  being  thought  that  Charles  T.  James  would  seek  to 
escape  in  this  direction. 

It  was  about  half-past  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  the  day 
following  the  tragedy  that  officer  Capron,  of  Woonsocket,  received 
a  dispatch  from  Worcester  describing  James,  and  urging  a  lookout 
for  him.  Mr.  Capron  at  once  went  to  the  Central  House,  kept  by  , 
Elliott  &  Mason,  and  read  the  dispatch  to  Mr.  Mason.  The  latter 
exclaimed :  "  That  team  and  that  fellow  were  here  this  morning  !'* 
Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  James  had  driven  up  in  a  sleigh, 
with  a  driver,  had  the  horse  baited,  and  refreshment  brought  to 
himself  in  the  sleigh.  Mr.  Elliott  remarked  at  the  time — "  There's 
something  wrong  with  that  fellow." 

It  took  but  a  few  moments  for  Messrs.  Capron  and  Elliott  to  be 
on  the  road  to  Providence  behind  "  White  Stocking,"  one  of  the 
best  horses  in  the  stable.  Just  before  reaching  Cumberland  Hill 
they  met  returning  the  driver  who  accompanied  James  from 
Worcester.  The  driver  then  first  learned  the  character  of  his 
companion.  He  said  that  James  left  him  near  J.  S.  Brown's 
machine  shop,  in  Pawtucket,  and  started  for  Olney  ville  by  way  of 
Manton.  With  renewed  speed  the  pursuers  drove  on,  reaching 
the  old  Providence  Hotel,  sixteen  miles  from  Woonsocket,  in 
sixty-five  minutes.     They  at  once  reported  to  Detective  Swan. 


OUR    POLICE.  405 

That  officer  was  already  on  the  track  of  the  fugitive,  and  the  three 
started  for  Olneyville  together.  Officer  William  A.  Carroll,  of 
Johnston,  with  Detective  Swan,  undertook  the  search  for  the 
murderer.  Mr.  Swan  went  to  the  house  where  James  was  expected 
to  seek  refuge.  Within  fifty  yards  of  the  same  house  officer 
Carroll  met  James  on  the  road,  and  at  once  took  him  in  custody. 
James  threw  away  in  the  snow  a  handkerchief  containing  a  gold 
watch,  a  diamond  cluster  pin,  worth  $800,  and  silver  change  taken 
from  the  murdered  man  ;  and  James  also  had  on  his  person  about 
$900  of  the  money  obtained  by  the  crime.  "  Did  Clark  make 
any  fight?"  asked  Detective  Swan,  when  he  came  up.  "  No;  we 
stifiened  him  at  the  first  lick,"  answered  James.  The  young  man 
made  no  concealment  of  his  guilt,  unlike  his  cousin  Silas,  who 
denied  to  the  last.  Young  James  confessed  that  they  planned  to 
rob  and  murder  Clark,  and  then  destroy  all  evidence  of  the  crime 
by  burning  the  building.  During  the  few  days  they  were  in 
Worcester  preparing  for  the  deed,  Clark  charitably  gave  the 
*' General"  money  to  buy  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  had 
visited  Clark's  rooms  before,  intending  to  commit  the  crime,  but 
Friday  evening  was.  the  first  occasion  they  found  him  alone. 
Silas  attracted  Clark's  attention  while  the  younger  James  stepped 
behind,  and  struck  the  fatal  blow  with  the  hatchet,  which  had 
been  bought  the  same  day,  doubtless  with  money  given  by  Clark. 
They  strangled  Clark  to  silence  his  groans.  The  woman  on  the 
outside  of  the  door  caused  them  great  alarm,  and  Charles  James 
kept  on  the  watch  for  her,  while  Silas  disposed  of  the  body. 

Both  men  were  tried  together.  As  Silas  did  not  confess,  the 
confession  of  his  accomplice  was  excluded  from  the  testimony. 
Both  were  convicted.  On  the  grounds  of  the  previous  good 
character  and  inferior  mental  capacity  of  Charles  James,  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Massachusetts  for  clemency 
was  extensively  signed  in  this  State.  The  Governor,  in  a  com- 
plete and  respectful  reply  to  the  petitioners,  gave  reasons  for 
denying  their  prayer.  The  execution  took  place  in  the  chapel 
of  the  jail  at  Worcester,  on  Friday,  September  25,  1868. 


406  OUR  POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE  MURDER  OF  GEORGE  H.  FAVOR. — A  CRIME  UNSURPASSED 
IN  ATROCITY. — DISAPPEARANCE  OF  MR.  FAVOR. — PATRICK  P. 
DENNEHY'S  story  to  MR.  KING. — DISAPPEARANCE  OF  DEN- 
NEHY. — "MY  FIRST  ATTEMPT  TO  MAKE  A  KEY  TO  FIT." — A 
LETTER  CONFESSING  TO  ROBBERY. — HORRIBLE  DISCOVERY  IN 
THE  CELLAR  OF  FAVOR'S  ESTABLISHMENT. — THE  PURSUIT  OF 
DENNEHY. — SKETCH  OF  DETECTIVE  JOHNSON.— HE  CAPTURES 
DENNEHY  IN  CANADA. — THE  MURDERER'S  TROUBLED  REST. — 
THE  SHOES  AND  STUDS  OF  THE  VICTIM  IN  HIS  POSSESSION. — 
TRIAL  AND  CONVICTION. — DID  HE  MEDITATE  ANOTHER  CRIME  ? 

We  come  now  to  a  crime  unsurpassed  in  atrocity  in  the  history 
of  our  city — the  murder  of  George  H.  Favor.  For  about  a  week 
previous  to  Wednesday,  September  11,  1872,  Mr.  George  H. 
Favor,  manufacturer  and  dealer  in  sashes,  blinds,  and  doors,  at 
No.  23  Cove  street,  Providence,  had  been  missing  under  myste- 
rious circumstances.  He  had  in  his  employ  an  Irishman  named 
Patrick  F.  Dennehy,  who  made  himself  generally  useful  about 
the  place.  Dennehy  was  prompt  in  appearing  for  work,  did  not 
drink — at  least  to  excess — and  was  regarded  as  trustworthy.  Mr. 
William  0.  King  was  clerk  for  Mr.  Favor.  On  Thursday,  Sep- 
tember 5th,  Mr.  King  saw  Mr.  Favor  about  the  office  as  usual. 
Mr.  Favor  spoke  to  Mr.  King  about  filling  some  order,  and  went 
out  of  the  office,  as  Mr.  King  supposed,  to  look  for  the  required 
stock.  Soon  afterward  Mr.  King  also  went  out,  to  meet  a  busi- 
ness engagement.  Mr.  King  was  away  about  three-quarters  of 
an  hour.  When  he  returned  Dennehy  told  him  that  Mr.  Favor 
had  gone — down  the  river,  he  thought ;  that  a  stranger  had  come 
in  and  asked  Mr.  Favor  what  sort  of  a  time  he  had  been  having 
at  his  summer  residence  at  Sabin's  Point ;  that  he  (the  stranger) 
had  passed  the  house  the  other  night,  and  it  was  all  lighted  up. 
Mr.  Favor  had  replied  that  he  was  not  stopping  at  his  summer 


OUR    POLICE.  407 

residence  down  the  river,  and  he  would  at  once  go  there  and 
investigate. 

Such,  in  substance,  was  Dennehy's  story  to  Mr.  King ;  and  it 
seemed  very  plausible  to  the  book-keeper,  who  knew  that  Mr. 
Favor  had  a  cottage  near  Sabin's  Point.  In  fact,  Mr.  King  at 
once  assumed  the  truth  of  the  statement,  and  gave  the  matter  no 
further  thought.  Dennehy  remained  about  the  premises  as  usual, 
much  of  the  time  in  the  cellar,  splitting  wood  and  cleaning  up. 
In  the  evening,  when  the  place  was  usually  closed,  one  of  the 
employes,  who  happened  to  be  passing,  noticed  a  light  in  the* 
office.  He  entered,  and  found  Dennehy  writing.  His  presence 
did  not  seem  to  be  welcome  to  Dennehy,  who  more  than  once 
suggested  a  place  of  amusement  where  his  visitor  might  pass  the 
evening.  Finally  they  both  went  out,  about  ten  o'clock,  and, 
after  a  short  walk,  separated  at  Market  Square  and  South  Water 
street. 

Dennehy  was  about  his  duties  as  promptly  us  usual,  on  Friday, 
much  of  the  time  in  the  cellar.  Mr.  Favor  had  not  re-appeared ; 
but  there  was  no  uneasiness.  He  was  member  of  a  firm  in  Fall 
River,  and  might  have  gone  there.  On  Saturday  morning,  when 
Mr.  King  got  to  the  office,  Dennehy  was  not  there.  Mr.  King 
also  found  it  impossible  to  open  the  safe.  He  sent  for  an  expert, 
who  found  the  keyhole  stuffed  with  paper.  When  the  safe  was 
opened  the  money  and  postage  stamps — about  $100  in  all — were 
missing,  and  on  a  small  piece  of  paper,  just  inside  the  safe,  was 
found  written:  "This  is  my  first  attempt  to  make  a  key  to  fit.'* 
The  paper  was  wrapped  around  a  key,  which  key  did  not  fit  the 
safe.  About  this  time  Mr.  John  Nudd,  with  whom  Dennehy 
boarded  at  Davis  and  Smith  streets,  made  his  appearance,  and 
reported  that  Dennehy  had  gone,  Friday  night,  taking  with  him 
all  his  own  clothing  and  a  pair  of  Mr.  Nudd's  boots.  In  Den- 
nehy's trunk  was  found  a  letter,  virtually  confessing  the  safe 
robbery,  blaming  domestic  troubles  for  his  fall  into  crime,  and 
addressed  to,  among  others,  Mr.  George  Favor. 

The  police  were  at  once  informed.  Detective  Johnson  was  sent 
to  investigate.  He  asked  if  Dennehy  had  any  habit  or  peculiar- 
ity which  might  lead  to  his  identification.    "  He  was  all  the  time 


408  OUR    POLICE. 

given  to  scribbling,  when  he  had  a  chance,"  said  a  man  in  the 
office,  "  and  you  will  find  some  of  his  scribbling  in  that  desk,  I 
think."  The  desk  was  at  once  opened.  There  the  detective 
discovered,  among  other  scraps  of  paper,  an  envelope  addressed 
to  a  man  named  A.  H.  Fisher,  "  care  of  N.  Garland,  Ottawa, 
Canada."  This  address  Mr.  Johnson  carefully  put  away  for 
future  use.  The  sum  stolen  from  the  safe  by  Dennehy  amounted 
only  to  about  $100,  as  stated,  besides  which  he  had  retained  $50 
collected  for  Mr.  Favor,  and,  as  the  crime  was  not  extraditable, 
it  was  not  thought  worth  while  to  pursue  him. 

Nobody  yet  suspected  the  terrible  truth,  but  there  was  an  un- 
defined suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  police  detectives  and  others 
that  the  robbery  of  the  safe  had  something  to  do  with  the  absence 
of  Mr.  Favor,  and  that  Dennehy  could  explain  where  his  employer 
was.  Telegrams  to  Fall  River  and  other  points  failed  to  ascer- 
tain Mr.  Favor's  whereabouts,  and  he  had  not  been  to  Sabin's 
Point.  Anxiety  grew  into  dread,  and  family  and  employes 
knew  not  what  to  believe.  On  the  Tuesday  following  a  stench 
was  noticed  in  the  cellar  of  the  premises  at  23  Cove  street.  A 
search  was  made,  but  nothing  found.  Mr.  Nudd  had  occasion  to 
go  into  the  cellar  on  Wednesday,  and  found  the  stench  still  more 
ofiensive.  He  spoke  to  Mr.  King,  a^nd  together  they  made  a 
search,  this  time  a  thorough  one.  Close  to  the  wall,  beyond 
where  the  former  search  had  reached,  they  found  the  body  of  Mr. 
Favor.  A  haycutter  was  on  the  head,  and  a  sleigh  over  the  body. 
Worms  and  rats  had  done  their  work  on  the  remains,  but  rodent 
and  worm  had  not  been  able  to  efface  the  evidence  of  the  awful 
crime.  A  hole  in  the  head,  from  which  the  brains  protruded, 
told  plainly  how  death  had  been  caused. 

The  public  voice  at  once  demanded  that  the  murderer  be  brought 
to  justice.  Nearly  a  week  had  elapsed  since  Dennehy's  depar- 
ture. Every  clue  was  taken  up.  It  was  now  remembered  that, 
when  Mr.  Favor  was  last  seen,  he  inquired  for  Dennehy,  and 
was  told  that  he  was  in  the  cellar.  The  object  of  the  note  in  the 
safe  about  a  key  to  fit,  and  the  letter  addressed  partly  to  Mr. 
Favor,  found  in  Dennehy's  trunk,  was  now  apparent.  The  mur- 
derer evidently  wished  to  convey  the  impression  that  safe-robbery 


OUR   POLICE.  409 

was  his  only  crime,  and  that  as  far  as  he  knew,  Mr.  Favor  was 
living.  Mr.  Favor  carried  a  key  to  the  safe.  That  key  had 
evidently  been  taken  by  the  murderer,  when  he  killed  his  em- 
ployer in  the  cellar.  He  doubtless  spent  the  night  of  the  murder 
concealing  the  body,  until  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  his 
fellow-employ^.  Afterward,  cleaning  up  the  cellar  gave  him 
ample  opportunity  to  conceal  the  remains.  How,  or  with  what 
weapon  Mr.  Favor  was  killed  has  never  been  made  known. 
There  was  an  axe  in  the  cellar,  the  back  part  of  the  head  of 
which  might  have  produced  the  fatal  blow.  There  was  also  a 
large  iron  bolt,  with  a  round  flattened  head,  and  used  for  prying 
open  boxes.  Mr.  Johnson  thinks  that  Dennehy  crushed  in  his 
employer's  skull  with  the  last-mentioned  weapon.  Where  Mr.  Favor 
must  have  first  fallen  there  was  a  broad  stain  of  blood  in  the 
cement.  Dennehy  had  evidently  scoured  the  spot  time  after 
time,  but  m  vain.  The  mark  remained  as  ineffaceable  as  the  life- 
blood  of  Rizzio  in  the  floor  of  Holyrood.  The  body  had  evidently 
been  dragged  among  some  window-casings,  large  enough  to  admit 
of  a  man  stepping  through  them,  and  there  remained  until  Den- 
nehy had  the  chance  to  conceal  it  where  it  was  found.  The 
interior  of  the  window-casings  looked  like  a  place  of  slaughter. 
Dennehy  had  taken  the  shoes  off  the  dead. 

Detective  Swan  started  for  Boston  to  make  inquiries  about 
Dennehy  there.  Detective  Johnson  started  for  Manville  to  see 
the  murderer's  wife.  Mrs.  Dennehy  had  not  seen  her  husband 
for  months,  and  did  not  care  to  see  him ;  but  she  was  able  to  give 
Mr.  Johnson  a  picture  of  him.  Mr.  Swan  also  met  with  success 
in  Boston.  There  he  ascertained  that  Dennehy  had  been  an 
inmate  of  the  Charlestown  prison  for  two  years  for  larceny  of  a 
horse  and  team.  He  had  also  boarded  at  the  Stackpole  House, 
and  left  a  trunk  there  as  security  for  an  unpaid  bill.  Detective 
Swan  found  the  trunk  at  the  Stackpole,  and  in  it  was  a  photo- 
graph of  Dennehy,  and  letters  showing  a  correspondence  with 
Fisher,  in  the  care  of  N.  Garland,  at  Ottawa. 

Detective  Albert  C.  Johnson,  to  whom  we  have  alluded,  was  at 
once  dispatched  to  Canada.  It  may  be  well  here  to  say  that  Mr. 
Johnson  is  a  native  of  Foster,  Rhode  Island.     One  of  a  family 


410  OUR    POLICE. 

of  nine  boys,  he  soon  displayed  the  Foster  ability  to  grub  for 
himself.  At  sea,  on  the  railway,  on  the  police  force,  and  as 
deputy  sheriff,  he  has  proved  the  grit  that  is  in  him ;  but  never 
did  he  show  his  persistence  and  detective  ability  more  signally 
than  in  the  pursuit  of  Dennehy.  Mr.  Johnson  was  not  slow  in 
getting  to  Ottawa.  There  he  found  P.  F.  Dennehy 's  writing  on 
the  registry  of  the  Albion  House,  as  "  P.  F.  Graham,  Boston." 
He  then  sought  out  Mr.  Garland,  who  proved  to  bo  a  highly 
respectable  man,  employed  at  the  government  building.  Mr. 
Garland  told  Mr.  Johnson  that  Fisher  and  Dennehy  had  carried 
on  correspondence  while  the  latter  was  in  the  State  Prison  at 
Charlestown,  Mass.  Fisher,  it  w^as  ascertained,  had  gone  off  on 
a  wedding  trip,  and  Mr.  Johnson  guessed  that  Dennehy  had 
probably  accompanied  him.  With  officer  Pinard,  of  the  Ottawa 
police,  Mr.  Johnson  started  after  the  wedding  party.  He  hoped 
to  find  the  fugitive  on  the  train  at  Grenville,  Lower  Canada,  and 
when  the  train  arrived  the  Providence  detective  and  officer  Pinard 
were  at  the  station.  Mr.  Johnson  walked  through  the  cars,  but 
did  not  see  Dennehy  at  first. 

Mr.  Johnson  then  started  to  walk  back  through  the  train,  and 
his  eyes  soon  lighted  on  Dennehy,  sitting  with  a  bouquet  in  his 
bosom  as  one  of  the  wedding  party.  The  Providence  officer  at 
once  tapped  the  fugitive  on  the  shoulder,  and  summoned  him  from 
the  car.  Pinard  was  waiting  on  the  platform.  "This  is  the 
man,"  said  Mr.  Johnson,  quietly.  "I  arrest  you  in  the  name  of 
the  Queen !"  spoke  the  Canadian  officer,  laying  his  hand  on 
Dennehy's  shoulder.  Dennehy  was  hurried  on  board  the  steamer 
for  Ottawa,  and  Mr.  Johnson  took  him  to  a  state-room,  and  locked 
the  door,  remaining  within  to  watch  the  prisoner.  Dennehy 
admitted  robbing  the  safe,  but  denied  the  murder  of  Mr.  Favor. 
He  asked  what  the  penalty  of  murder  was  in  Rhode  Island,  ap- 
pearing to  be  ignorant  of  it.  He  said  he  would  rather  die  than 
go  back  to  the  States,  as  he  would  undoubtedly  be  convicted. 
Mr.  Johnson  said  that  if  innocent,  as  he  claimed  to  be,  he  would 
not  be  convicted. 

This  assurance  did  not  seem  to  satisfy  the  prisoner,  who  lean- 
ing his  head  back  against  the  side  of  a  berth,  fell  into  a  doze. 


OUR   POLICE.  411 

Suddenly,  while  Dennehy  slept,  his  face  assumed  an  expression 
of  horror,  "such,"  Mr.  Johnson  says,  "as  I  had  never  seen 
on  the  face  of  a  living  man."  Dennehy  started;  he  half  mut- 
tered something ;  he  arose  ;  his  eyes  opened  and  he  glared  wildly 
around.  Then  his  brain  evidently  awoke  to  the  situation,  he  saw 
Mr.  Johnson ;  he  sank  back  on  his  seat  and  was  calm  again.  In 
his  sleep  had  he  dreamed  that  he  beheld  the  ghost  of  his  victim  ? 

Dennehy  had  with  him  $25.00  in  American,  and  $2.00  in 
Canadian  money.  He  also  had  two  travelling  valises,  in  one  of 
which  was  a  striped  cotton  shirt,  stained  on  the  right  wrist,  the 
left  sleeve,  and  near  the  elbow,  with  what  a  surgeon  pronounced 
to  be  blood.  A  pair  of  studs  belonging  to  Mr.  Favor  were  found 
on  Dennehy,  and  in  his  valise  were  the  very  shoes  worn  by  the 
victim  of  the  horrible  crime.  The  shoes  could  not  have  fitted 
Dennehy,  and  were,  of  course,  somewhat  used,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  what  motive  could  have  prompted  him  to  take  them. 
The  key  of  the  safe,  which  Mr.  Favor  had  carried,  was  found  in 
a  pas§age-way  on  the  steamer  where  Dennehy  had  evidently 
thrown  it  away. 

Dennehy  engaged  counsel,  and  made  every  possible  effort  to 
resist  extradition,  but  in  vain.  An  error  in  the  original  warrant 
obtained  his  release  for  a  few  minutes,  but  he  was  overtaken  with 
another  warrant  before  he  had  gone  many  steps.  President  Grant 
signed  the  application  for  extradition,  and,  legal  resistance  being 
exhausted,  Dennehy  was  brought  to  Providence.  At  his  trial  he 
was  ably  defended  by  devoted  counsel,  but  the  jury  found  him 
guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life.  The 
Providence  police  were  applauded  both  by  the  Canadian  and  the 
local  press  for  their  success  in  capturing  Dennehy,  the  Providence 
Journal  remarking  editorially,  the  day  after  the  arrest,  that 
"  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  satisfaction  in  the  community, 
yesterday  morning  over  the  announcement  that  Patrick  F.  Den- 
nehy, undoubtedly  the  perpetrator  of  the  recent  most  atrocious 
murder  on  Cove  street,  has  been  hunted  doAvn  by  Detective 
Johnson,  and  is  now  safely  lodged  in  jail,  in  Ottawa,  in  the 
Dominion  cf  Canada.  The  timid  breathe  easier  now  that  it  is 
known  that  so  reckless  a  murderer  is  not  lurking  about  the  city, 


412  OUR   POLICE. 

and  everybody  rejoices  that  the  outraged  law  is  likely  to  be  vin- 
dicated in  the  speedy  punishment  of  the  criminal." 

In  the  course  of  Dennehy's  trial  circumstances  came  to  light 
which  indicated  that  the  killing  of  Mr.  Favor  was  deliberate,  and 
that  another  person  might  not  improbably  have  been  intended  as 
a  second  victim.  Dennehy  had  opportunities  for  knowing  how 
much  money  was  in  the  safe,  and  he  waited  until  Friday  night, 
when  the  safe  would  be  likely  to  contain  an  extra  amount  for 
weekly  payments  to  be  made  on  the  following  day  before  robbing 
it.  That  same  Friday  he  advised  the  clerk,  Mr.  King,  to  take 
care  and  have  money  enough  to  pay  oil  on  the  morrow.  On 
Friday  evening  Dennehy  went  to  a  place  kept  by  a  man  named 
Tom  Marrjott,  and  remained  there  until  closing  hours.  Marr- 
jott,  before  going  away,  counted  and  took  his  cash,  amounting 
to  about  f  100.  Dennehy  saw  the  money  counted,  and  expre'ssed 
much  anxiety  that  Marrjott  should  accompany  him  over  to  Mr, 
Favor's  office,  as  he  (Dennehy)  had  money  over  there  he  wanted 
to  get,  in  order  to  go  on  a  tour  of  dissipation.  Marrjott,  although 
he  suspected  nothing,  declined  to  go.  Attorney- General  Willard 
Sayles,  who  prosecuted  Dennehy,  has  expressed  the  opinion  that, 
if  Marrjott  had  consented,  there  would  have  been  two  bodies  in 
the  cellar  instead  of  one. 

Dennehy  remains  in  State  Prison.  The  power  of  pardon,  in 
Rhode  Island,  rests  with  the  Governor  and  Senate,  The  Gov- 
ernor recommends  and  the  Senate  consents  and  advises.  Repeated 
efforts  have  been  made  to  induce  Governors  to  recommend  the 
pardon  of  Dennehy,  but  without  avail ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
Governor  Taft  will  take  a  different  view  from  his  predecessors  as 
to  the  deserts  of  this  atrocious  criminal. 


OUR   POLICE.  4iB 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

LITTLE    CARL   ON  THE  BANKS    OP    THE    SPREE. — IN   AMERICA. — 

LEARNIKG   TO   ENGRAVE. — IN   LOVE   WITH    CLARA   BECHTEL. 

AN  OMINOUS  WISH. — THE  FIRST  CRIME. — ROBBING  THE  BAL- 
TIMORE    THIRD     NATIONAL     BANK     VAULT. — IN     A    TURKISH 

PRISON. — THE  ESCAPE  AND  THE  MURDER  OF  MRS.  CHAPMAN. 

SWINDLING  THE  UNION  TRUST  COMPANY. A  SCHEME  TO  DE- 
FRAUD THE  EUROPEAN  CONTINENT. — THE  1,000  FRANC  NOTE 
FORGERY. — FOR     NEARLY     SIX     YEARS    A    PRISONER. '*  YES, 

PET,  I'll  try  to  be  good." 

*  It  was  May's  fairest  day  in  1857.  The  banks  of  the  Spree 
were  aglow  ^vith  wild  flowers  and  fragrant  with  the  sweetness  of 
the  earth  after  rain.  The  little  waves  lapped  the  pebbles  as  they 
ran  towards  the  great  city  of  Berlin  in  the  distance,  and  sang 
musically  to  little  Carl  who  was  seated  on  a  fallen  log  dipping  first 
one  foot  and  then  the  other  into  the  clear  water,  laughing  all  the 
while.  There  was  the  color  of  a  well-ripened  lady-apple  on  his 
cheeks.  Carl's  furrowless  forehead  upheld  a  tangled  mass  of 
bright  hair;  his  blue  eyes  glanced  first  up  the  stream  and  then 
down  again  and  then  filled  with  tears. 

*'Alack  !*'  he  cried  as  he  put  his  plump  little  hand  against  a 
dimple  in  his  cheek,  "Alack  !  and  why  does  not  Minnachen  come 
this  way  ?" 

But  Minna  did  not  come  and  sleep  did.  It  was  very,  very  hard 
to  keep  those  little  blue  eyes  open.  The  shade  of  the  linden  was 
80  CO  )1,  and  the  whispering  of  the  little  water-sprites  was  so  sweet, 
and  the  humming  of  that  great  big  old  grandfather  bee  made 
him  so  drowsy.  And  then  Minnachen  was  so  long  in  coming — 
wouldn't  come  at  all,  maybe.  "Oh-o-o,  I  am  so  sleepy,'*  and 
away  went  little  Carl's  wakefulness  as  his  head  rested  upon  a 
little  bank  of  moss.     A  little  daisy  near  by  bobbed  in  the  wind 

*  Lcntribute  1  by  de  H  raiuias  Folsoui,  of  The.  New  York  Times. 


414  OUR    POLICE.  ^ 

and  as  if  attracted  toward  the  sweet  baby  face  below  it,  bent 
down  and  kissed  it.     So  Carl  went  fast  to  sleep. 

When  awakened  the  sun  was  shining  right  under  his  eye-lids, 
for  it  was  nearly  twilight.  The  day  was  about  spent  and  all  that 
was  needed  was  for  the  great  ball  of  fire  to  sink  beneath  the  hills 
in  the  west  and  give  the  little  stars  a  chance  to  light  our  Carl  to 
his  home.  No,  Minna  has  not  come  yet,  Carl,  but  she  is  coming. 
Hear  her  voice :  **  Carl,  Carl,  mein  brudder  Carl !"  it  calls. 
"Ach  Carl!"  it  says,  and  another  curly  head  is  there  by  the 
banks  of  the  Spree  for  the  sun  to  touch  with  his  lightest  finger 
of  grace  and  repose  its  keeping  to  the  night.  With  arms  on 
shoulders  the  little  ones  skip  joyously  towards  a  little  cottage 
among  a  group  of  trees  in  the  distance.  Already  there  are  lights 
in  the  windows  and  a  kind-faced  old  woman  stands  on  the 
threshold  and  with  her  apron  beckons  the  golden-heads  on.  "  Oh, 
Mother  Becker,"  exclaims  a  passer-by,  *'  but  you  are  a  lucky 
woman!     The  little  fellow  will  make  a  fine  soldier  some  day.*' 

Within  the  door- way  sits  an  elderly  man  from  whose  pipe  arise 
long  curls  of  white  smoke  which  are  tossed  about  by  the  spring 
breezes  awhile  and  then  vanish.  It  is  father  Becker,  little  Carl's 
and  Minna's  father,  but  oh !  so  weary  of  the  incessant  toil  and 
fruitless  endeavors  of  a  German  peasant's  life,  so  tired  of  the 
struggle  to  fill  the  little  ones'  mouths,  so — 

"Mother  Becker,"  he  says  shortly,  *' let's  go  to  America." 
"All  right,  my  man.  I  am  thine.  I  will  follow  thee.'* 
It  was  not  long  after  this  that  the  Becker  family  with  ten- 
years-old  Carl  and  little  Minna  came  to  this  country  which  had 
been  described  to  them  as  the  land  of  gold ;  where  money 
came  almost  for  the  asking.  But  they  did  not  find  it  the  Eldo- 
rado of  their  imagination.  It  was  hard  work  that  father  Becker 
had  in  the  big  city  of  New  York  to  keep  the  little  ones  gladsome 
and  the  mother  from  regretting  the  cottage  by  the  Spree.  But 
he  was  a  typical  German.  Frugality,  patience,  industry  did  their 
parts  and  after  a  time  the  Beckers  got  to  be  looked  on  as  rising 
people — money  in  the  bank  and  all  those  other  evidences  of  re- 
spectability which  make  classes.  Carl  and  Minna  went  to  a  big 
school  on  the  cast  side  of  the  city  and  soon  became  known 


OUR    POLICE.  415 

as  Charles  and  Minnie.  They  lost  most  of  their  recollection  of 
the  Fatherland.  They  were  Americans  now,  and  when  the  war 
opened  Charles  wanted  to  go  to  the  front  as  a  drummer-boy, 
but  he  didn't.  He  got  to  be  a  big  tellow  by  this  time  and 
there  was  little  left  for  him  to  do  in  school,  so  rapid  had  been  his 
advancement.  He  was  devoted  to  his  pencil.  He  drew  Minnie's 
and  his  father's  and  mother's  faces  so  well  that  they  had  them 
framed  and  hung  them  in  the  parlor.  Ho  also  wrote  a  marvel- 
ous hand  and  could  do  almost  anything  with  a  pen.  He 
could  imitate  any  other  person's  writing  to  a "  nicety  that  was 
remarkable,  and  it  became  the  boast  of  the  family  that  Charles 
was  sure  to  become  a  great  man — a  priest  or  doctor  perhaps. 
Minnie — she  regarded  her  brother  with  an  affection  that  was 
devotion  ;  anything  that  Charles  did  was  right. 

Mr.  Becker  was  determined  that  Charles  should  learn  a  trade, 
and  so,  as  the  boy  knew  how  to  draw  and  write  so  well  it  was 
plainly  to  be  seen  that  he  should  be  an  engraver.  Wasn't  Al- 
brecht  Durer  an  engraver !  So  an  old  friend  of  the  family  who 
was  a  journeyman  engraver  took  the  lad  under  his  protection  and 
taught  him  how  to  use  the  burin  with  such  skill  that  it  was  not 
necessary  for  him  to  remain  a  pupil  until  he  was  twenty-one 
years  old.  He  knew  almost  as  much  as  his  master  within  a  few 
months  and  began  to  do  odd  jobs  himself.  His  skill  became  the 
talk  of  the  neighborhood.  Every  one  was  talking  about  what 
little  Charlie  Becker  could  do  in  making  engravings.  Once  he 
saw  a  lithograph  of  Guide's  head  of  Beatrice  de  Cenci.  He 
bought  it  for  half  a  dollar,  seated  himself  at  his  table  and  within 
a  week  turned  out  a  plate  that  he  sold  for  fifty  dollars.  It  began 
to  look  well  for  the  fortunes  of  the  Becker  family.  Charlie  was 
a  genius,  and  what  was  more,  a  genius  who  could  make  money. 
He  got  a  position  in  one  of  the  great  engraving  companies  and 
then — then  he  fell  in  love. 

Clara  Bechtel  was  a  realization  of  the  Italian  artist's  concep- 
tion of  Margaretta.  Great  masses  of  sunny  hair.  Eyes  that 
mingled  with  their  hazel,  tints  of  a  warmer  hue,  which  in  passion 
grew  burning  in  their  intensity,  eloquent  with  the  fires  which 
smouldered  beneath.     She  was  but  seventeen.     Charles  was  only 


416  OUR    POLICE. 

twenty  years.  It  was  a  first  love  and  it  wrapped  the  two  in  all 
the  delusions  and  delights  of  that  experience.  Clara  liked  pretty 
things  to  wear  upon  her  fingers.  Charles  was  still  poor,  though  he 
saw  chances  ahead  of  becoming  one  of  the  most  expert  engravers 
of  his  time.  His  sweet-heart  was  coy,  however.  She  could  he 
won  by  love,  she  promised  him,  but  she  fancied  sweet  things  in 
golden  bon-bon  boxes.  She  desired  wealth — and  Charles  was 
poor.  One  day  in  1868,  Clara  pouted  and  said  that  her  engage- 
ment ring  was  not  nearly  so  pretty  as  another  girl's  she  men- 
tioned. She  wanted  a  diamond  one.  Her  wish  was  suflBcient  for 
Charles. 

"  Clara,  dear,'*  he  said,  "you  shall  have  the  biggest  one  I  caB 

The  young  man  at  that  time  in  his  trade  was  engraving  private 
bank  checks  tor  a  prominent  grocery  house  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city.  He  had  received  checks  Irom  the  firm  in  payment 
for  his  work.  He  spent  a  day  in  completing  a  forgery  for  $638 
on  the  bank  at  which  his  employers  did  business.  He  presented 
the  check  and  it  was  paid  without  a  question.  Two  hundred 
dollars  of  this  he  invested  in  a  diamond  ring  for  Clara.  The 
remainder  he  held  to  enable  him  to  flee  the  city  if  it  was  neces- 
sary. Clara  received  the  jewel  without  showing  any  suspicions 
she  may  have  had,  but  when  the  detectives  traced  Charlie's  pur- 
chase to  her,  she  willingly  told  them  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
gift.  Charles  was  arrested,  but  father  Becker  paid  back  the 
money  and  the  prosecution  of  the  young  man  was  stopped.  This 
w^as  the  first  step,  and  it  brought  dire  results.  Clara  discarded 
her  lover,  declaring  that  she  would  have  nothing  to  "do  with  a 
thief.  Little  Minnie  felt  the  disgrace  most  keenly,  for  it  hastened 
the  consumption  with  which  she  was  dying,  and  within  a  week 
after  Charles*  arrest  she  was  a  corpse.  Father  and  mother 
Becker  left  Charles  alone  two  vears  afterwards,  and  none  too  soon 
tor  them  to  die  peacefully.  It  may  have  been  that  Becker, 
deserted  by  the  woman  he  loved  and  losing  his  family  by  his  own 
mad  crime,  became  desperate.  Certain  it  is  that  the  former  good 
influences  of  his  life  lost  their  hold,  and  ho  abandoned  himself  to 
evil  companions  and  reckless  dissipation.     It  was  Clara  Bechtel's 


OUR   POLICE.  417 

diamond  ring  that  was  his  undoing  and  which  gave  to  this  country 
one  of  its  most  notorious  criminals. 

It  does  not  require  any  considerable  time  for  the  shrewdest 
criminals  to  become  acquainted  with  each  other.  The  attraction 
of  criminals  for  the  like  is  as  marked  as  the  same  sentiment 
among  the  learned  professions.  Union,  too,  means  strength,  and 
in  a  party  of  men  whose  lives  have  not  been  the  whitest  a  com- 
bination means  a  power  for  evil  that  is  not  pleasant  to  think  of. 
Fifteen  years  ago  these  gangs  were  much  more  potent  than  they 
now  arc.  They  had  persons  behind  them  who  had  money  enough 
to  buy  up  juries,  and  on  certain  occasions  magistrates.  This 
money  they  used  to  shelter  their  friends,  and  used  it  effectually. 
Young  Becker,  still  desperate  and  careless  of  consequences,  found 
it  easy  and  even  pleasant  to  become  acquainted  with  the  men  who 
had  heard  of  his  skill  and  desired  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Among 
the  persons  who  attached  themselves  to  him  were  George  Engells 
and  George  Wilkes,  two  of  the  most  expert  forgers  of  that  period. 
They  could  plan  great  schemes  of  villainy  and  Becker  was  con- 
tent to  lend  his  assistance  to  them.  His  skill  as  an  engraver  had 
Bteadily  improved,  and  a  gang  of  criminals  containing  such  ex- 
perts as  these  three  men  meant  a  serious  menace  to  the  community. 
They  engaged  in  only  big  operations,  regarding  minor  rascalities 
as  too  contemptible  for  men  of  their  distinction  to  bother  with. 
They  were  uniformly  fortunate,  too,  and  conducted  their  schemes 
to  a  finish  with  an  adroitness  that  to  the  police  seemed  almost 
superhuman. 

*  :|c  *  ♦  ♦  4c  4c 

It  was  a  very  hot  day  in  July,  1872,  when  a  tastefully  dressed 
gentleman  entered  the  office  of  John  S.  Gittings  &;  Co.,  bankers, 
on  North  street,  Baltimore,  and  inquired  for  Mr.  Gittings.  The 
latter  was  in  his  private  office  and  the  boy  requested  the  stranger 
to  walk  in. 

"  My  partner  and  myself  have  been  looking  over  that  building 
of  yours  next  to  the  Third  National  Bank,"  said  the  caller  in  a 
business-like  tone  as  he  greeted  tlie  banker,  "  and  we  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  will  jast  suit  our  purposes.  You  see  we 
want  to  start  a  general  grain  commission  business  and  we  desire 


418  OUR    POLICB. 

to  get  in  the  centre  of  the  business  part  of  your  city.  The  first 
floor  of  your  premises  just  suits  us.     What  are  your  terms?" 

"Thirteen  hundred  dollars  a  year,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Good  price,  but  we  can  aiFord  to  pay  good  rent  for  a  good 
location.  Her^e  is  $G50  for  the  first  six  months.  If  you  will 
give  me  a  receipt,  my  firm  will  take  possession  of  the  floor  at 
once." 

"The  name,  if  you  please?"  asked  the  banker. 

«  Stabler  &  Co." 

It  required  but  a  few  minutes  to  make  out  and  sign  the  receipt 
for  the  rent.  When  it  was  done  Mr.  Stabler  carelessly  stuck 
the  paper  into  his  pocket,  nodded  a  brief  but  pleasant  good- 
morning  to  the  banker  and  strolled  up  North  street.  He  had 
scarcely  got  to  Baltimore  street  when  he  was  saluted  by  a  heavily 
built  man  wearing  a  black  mustache  and  goatee,  with : 

"  Hello,  Charles,  what  luck  ?  " 

"  They  couldn't  stand  the  cold  cash  and  so  they  let  us  have 
the  floor.     Plain  sailing,  now,  isn't  it  ?" 

"  Some,"  was  the  laconic  response  as  the  heavy  man  seized  the 
arm  of  the  more  gracefully  built  one  and  accompanied  him  up 
town. 

The  following  morning  the  messenger  of  the  Third  National 
Bank  seated  himself  near  the  paying  teller's  desk  and  watched  a 
truck  load  of  furniture  stop  next  door.  "  Hello!"  he  exclaimed, 
"Gittings  has  rented  his  store."  By  and  by  a  man  with  a  black 
mustache  and  goatee  entered  the  bank  and  going  to  the  cashier's 
window  said : 

"  I  desire  to  open  an  account  in  this  institution  in  behalf  of  my 
firm.  We  are  new  people  in  these  parts,  but  I  think  our  trans- 
actions will  be  considerable." 

The  cashier  of  the  bank  arranged  things  satisfactorily,  and 
after  being  introduced  to  the  president  of  the  bank  as  Mr.  Stabler, 
"whose  firm  intended  to  do  business  next  door,"  the  man  with 
the  black  mustache  withdrew.  It  required  not  very  long  for  the 
two  members  of  the  firm  of  Stabler  &  Co.  to  establish  quite  an 
enviable  reputation  in  the  vicinity  as  particularly  good  fellows, 
with  an  enormous  fund  of  amusing  stories  and  pretty  deep  pockets. 


OUR    POLICE.  419 

The  younger  Stabler  was  apparently  a  German,  for  he  spoke  with 
a  very  slight  but  unmistakable  accent.  The  elder  man,  who 
declared  that  his  name  also  was  Stabler,  accounted  for  his  free- 
dom from  peculiarity  in  pronouncing  English  by  saying  that  he 
had  been  born  and  had  spent  all  his  life  in  New  York,  but  that 
his  cousin,  the  other  stranger,  had  landed  here  from  Bremen  when 
quite  a  large  boy  and  had  never  acquired  a  pure  accent.  Some- 
times he  would  jocularly  address  his  cousin  as  "  Dutchy  " — an 
appellation  the  latter  would  seem  to  very  much  enjoy.  The 
business  of  Stabler  &  Co.  seemed  to  be  considerable,  for  their 
mail  was  large.  They  did  a  large  elevator  business  at  Milwaukee, 
they  said,  and  they  purposed  to  establish  a  branch  at  Baltimore 
rather  than  in  New  York,  because  they  could  here  avoid  much 
of  the  competition  that  ruins  trade  in  the  metropolis.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  firm  worked  late,  for  very  often,  even  after  midnight, 
pedestrians  could  distinguish  a  small  light  in  the  private  oflSce  of 
the  firm  and  hear  a  scratching  as  though  some  one  was  very  busy 
writing.  The  elder  Stabler  got  well  acquainted  with  the  cashier 
of  the  bank  next  door,  and  often  spent  a  half  hour  before  the  work 
of  the  institution  ceased  in  the  bank  official's  oflfice  discussing 
current  events.     One  day  he  said  to  the  cashier: 

"  By  the  way,  my  firm  has  considerable  money  in  your  bank. 
How  do  you  keep  it?'* 

"Oh,  safe  enough,"  the  cashier  replied,  jokingly;  "come  and 
see."  Then  the  visitor  was  shown  the  big  vault.  Its  interior 
was  explained  to  him  with  much  exactness  of  detail,  and  Mr. 
Stabler  strolled  away  expressing  amazement  at  the  massiveness 
of  the  strong  box  in  which  reposed  the  funds  of  the  institution. 
Mr.  Stabler  went  straight  to  his  office,  and  opening  the  door  of 
the  private  room  with  his  latch-key,  entered.  As  he  did  so,  his 
cousin  Charles  sprang  back  from  a  map  which  hung  upon  the 
wall  and  which  he  was  examining,  and  confronted  the  visitor  with 
a  motion  that  was  indicative  of  some  shooting.  When  he  saw 
who  the  intruder  was  he  exclaimed  : 

"Why  the  deuce  didn't  you  rap,  Joe  ?'* 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,  old  man.  We  can  do  that  job  to-night 
while  the  watchman  is  out  at  his  supper." 


420  OUR    POLICE. 

"Well,  if  we  are  to  finish  up  to-night  we  had  better  get  to 

work,"  returned  Charles. 

******* 

At  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Sunday,  August  18, 
two  men  left  the  offices  of  Stabler  &  Co.,  carrying  valises  which 
seemed  well  filled,  but  which  were  certainly  not  heavy.  They 
walked  along  the  street  carelessly,  smoking  cigars  and  apparently 
enjoying  them.  They  met  two  policemen  as  they  passed  into 
Baltimore  street,  and  as  they  did^o  the  latter  saluted  them  with: 

"Nice  night,  Mr.  Stabler." 

"Yes,  indeed,  George,"  was  the  reply  of  the  younger  pedes- 
trian.    "  Have  a  cigar?  " 

"No,  thanks :  I'm  on  duty,  you  know."  Then  after  the  two 
merchants  had  passed,  policeman  George  turned  to  his  companion 
with:  *'•  Nice  man  that  Mr.  Stabler.     Generous  like,  you  know." 

At  the  junction  of  Charles  and  Baltimore  streets,  the  Stablers 
entered  a  light  wagon  and  drove  away.  That  was  the  last  ever 
seen  of  the  firm  of  Stabler  &  Co.  in  the  Monumental  City. 

3J*  *1»  ^  ^  1*  1*  3p 

It  was  scarcely  nine  o'clock  the  following  morning  when  a  man, 
hatless  and  with  only  his  waistcoat  on,  rushed  into  police-head- 
quarters and  falling  half-prostrate  upon  a  chair,  panted : 

"  S-send  policeman  !   Third  N-n-national  has  been  rob-bed  !" 

The  intelligence  was  startling.  The  Third  National  Bank  of 
Baltimore  had  a  credit  that  was  continent-wide.  It  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  safest  institutions  south  of  Philadelphia  and  was 
known  to  be  the  repository  of  great  sums  of  money.  Marshal  of 
Police  Gray  could  scarce  realize  the  enormity  of  the  affair  when 
another  messenger  from  the  bank  rushed  in  and  exclaimed : 

"  Nearly  $150,000  stolen  from  our  bank,  marshal !  " 
•"  When  ?  "  was  the  inquiry. 

"  Between  Saturday  night  and  this  morning." 

"IIow?" 

"  Vault  smashed  in  from  the  back.    Nearly  all  the  cash  gone !  ** 

Detectives  were  promptly  assigned  to  the  case  and  made  a 
careful  inspection  of  tiie  interior  of  tlie  vault.  As  soon  as  they 
saw  it  they  understood  that  the  work  had  been  done  by  the  most 


rr^/'        Park 
L^T\rera 


Mcp- 


BANK    BURGLARS'  OUTFIT. 


422  OUR  POLICE. 

expert  safe  robbers  in  the  country.  The  exterior  of  the  vault 
indicated  nothing.  It  was  only  after  the  doors  had  been  opened 
that  the  havoc  played  became  perceptible.  There  was  a  hole 
extending  right  through  the  rear  of  the  vault,  the  brick  work 
between  the  two  buildings  and  into  the  private  office  of  Messrs. 
Stabler  &  Co.,  general  commission  merchants.  The  offices  con- 
sisted of  five  rooms,  three  front  and  two  rear.  The  front  offices 
were  furnished  with  an  eye  to  the  business  which  was  professedly 
done  in  them.  There  were  pretty  little  stands  holding  sample 
grades  of  com  and  wheat  and  imposing  looking  desks,  which 
when  opened  were  found  to  contain  nothing.  In  one  of  the  rear 
rooms  was  found  a  cot  and  some  clothing.  The  latter  had  no 
mark.  It  evidently  belonged  to  some  evil-looking  clerks  ia 
Stabler  &  Co.'s  employ.  In  the  other  room,  or  private  office, 
the  manner  of  the  execution  of  the  crime  at  once  became  ap- 
parent. Lying  upon  the  floor  was  a  set  of  the  finest  burglar 
tools  ever  seen  in  Baltimore.  They  were  of  the  most  mar- 
velously  delicate  workmanship  and  united  what  is  so  necessary 
in  articles  of  this  kind ;  the  steel  was  of  as  fine  a  temper  as  the 
ancient  Damascus.  Near  these  tools  was  a  pair  of  trousers  still 
damp  from  perspiration.  They  bore  no  mark  of  ownership. 
Upon  a  table  near  the  aperture  in  the  wall  stood  two  half-finished 
bottles  of  champagne  and  some  truffled  turkey  sandwiches.  The 
burglars  had  evidently  enjoyed  themselves  as  much  as  possible 
with  their  work.  Then  the  opening  in  the  wall  was  examined. 
A  large  map  of  the  United  States  covered  the  side  of  the  apart- 
ment nearest  the  bank  vault.  It  was  under  this  that  the  work 
was  done.  When  morning  came  the  burglars  simply  dropped 
the  end  of  the  map  over  their  work  of  destruction  and  regarded 
themselves  as  safe.  The  opening  from  Stabler  &  Co.'s  private 
office  into  the  vault  measured  two  feet  square,  extending  through 
the  hard  brick  to  where  the  iron  covering  plate  of  the  vault  stood 
in  the  way,  three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  In  this  iron  a 
hole  eighteen  inches  square  had  been  cut,  and  through  the  bricks 
beyond  this  was  another  aperture.  The  entire  thickness  of  the 
alternating  brick  and  iron  through  which  the  burglars  had  cut 
measured  over  thirty  inches.     Within  the  vault  were  two  safes, 


OUR   POLICE.  423 

one  containing  $100,000  in  bank-notes.  This  was  not  touched. 
The  one  which  was  rifled  had  been  opened  with  jack-screws 
and  relieved  of  $35,000  in  bank-notes;  $15,000  in  government 
bonds  and  more  than  $100,000  in  bonds  and  private  securities. 
The  burglars  left  no  clew  behind  them  save  descriptions  such  as 
were  obtained  from  the  intimates  of  the  Stabler  cousins.  But 
the  descriptions  were  good  and  were  sent  all  over  the  country 
with  a  placard  offering  $10,000  reward  for  the  recovery  of  the 
stolen  property.  It  was  soon  learned  that  the  criminals  who 
imposed  on  the  business  men  of  Baltimore  as  respectable  general 
grain  commission  merchants  were  none  other  than  Charles  Becker 
and  Joe  Elliott. 

The  robbery  created  an  intense  excitement  throughout  the 
State,  and  hundreds  of  stories  about  the  burglars,  their  actions 
and  their  manners,  were  current  for  months  after  the  crime  took 
place.  Mr.  John  S.  Gittings,  the  elder,  related  an  anecdote 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  coolness  of  the  fellows.  On  the 
Thursday  before  the  robbery  the  old  gentleman  strolled  into 
"Stabler  &  Company's"  office  to  see  how  the  new  firm  liked  its 
quarters.  He  was  greeted  with  much  courtesy  by  the  elder 
partner  and  escorted  to  the  rear  office.  As  he  passed  through  he 
saw  two  clerks  in  their  shirt  sleeves  at  the  desks  apparently  at 
work  upon  their  ledgers.  The  younger  partner  was  in  the  rear 
offices  which  were  neatly  and  comfortably  furnished. 

"Well,  how  do  you  find  business?"  inquired  Mr.  Gittings  as 
he  seated  himself  in  a  proffered  chair. 

"Very  slow,  very  slow,"  said  the  elder  Stabler  in  accents  of 
disappointment.  "  It  is  very  much  slower  than  we  expected.  If 
this  business  does  not  brighten  up  soon  we  shall  open  a  bank 
here." 

The  younger  man  shot  a  sudden  look  of  surprise  at  the  speaker 
and  then  relapsed  into  a  faint  smile. 

The  old  banker  took  his  departure  and  three  days  later  Stabler 
&  Co.  "  opened  "  the  Third  National  Bank. 

Becker  had  met  Elliott  shortly  after  his  experience  with  his 
first  forgery,  and  the  two  men  soon  came  to  have  mutual  respect 
for  each  other's  intelligence.     It  was  rather  dull  in  the  city  in 


424  OUR    POLICE. 

tlie  warm  weather,  and  one  day  in  June,  Elliott  proposed  to 
Becker  that  they  go  South  somewhere  and  "  make  some  money.'* 
The  ground  was  gone  over  very  carefully  and  finally  the  Baltimore 
bank  was  chosen.  The  clerks  who  were  employed  by  Becker 
and  Elliott  were  members  of  the  gang  which  the  two  men  had 
assembled.  The  notoriety  which  this  bank  robbery  brought  to 
Becker  and  Elliott  was  not  relished  by  those  worthies,  and  as  soon 
as  they  were  advised  by  their  friends  that  they  had  been  identi- 
fied they  sailed  for  Europe,  and  for  a  time  lived  on  the  money 
they  had  stolen  from  the  Third  National  Bank.  But  burglary 
did  not  suit  Charles  Becker's  fancy.  He  disliked  the  extremely 
hard  and  dangerous  work.  He  had  gifts  of  a  remarkable  kind 
and  he  could  make  morA  money  out  of  them  than  he  could  by 
using  the  jimmy,  and  so  he  informed  Elliott.  It  was  while  the 
two  were  in  Paris  that  Becker  made  this  resolution,  and  it  deter- 
mined the  future  course  of  his  life.  Here  he  was  only  twenty  six 
years  old,  but  already  known  to  be  a  noted  criminal  who  would 
stop  at  nothing  to  gain  his  ends.  The  gang  of  men  who  worked 
with  him  and  had  met  him  in  France  included  "Joe"  Chapman 
and  Ivan  Siscovitch,  the  former  an  English  forger  whose  record 
was  a  strange  chapter  of  desperate  ventures  and  cowardice,  and 
the  latter  a  Russian  whose  crimes  had  been  the  talk  of  the  police 
in  every  part  of  Europe.  With  these  men  Charles  Becker  was 
regarded  as  a  leader.  He  could  plan  great  crimes  and  had  pluck 
enough  to  see  them  through.  This  quartette  of  criminals  passed 
their  time  very  pleasantly  in  Paris  spending  Baltimoreans'  money. 
It  was  there  that  Becker  had  something  of  a  romance. 

He  had  been  passing  the  afternoon  idling  in  the  gallery  of  the 
Louvre.  Crowds  of  sight-seers  had  passed  and  repassed  before 
hira  and  still  he  mused  about  old  times  and  speculated  about  how 
long  his  present  liberty  would  continue.  He  was  considering  the 
advisability  of  breaking  with  his  companions,  seek  to  change  his 
identity  and  lead  an  honest  life,  when  his  attention  was  attracted 
by  the  laugh  of  a  woman  near  him.  Her  back  was  turned 
towards  him,  but  there  seemed  to  be  something  familiar  about  ita 
lines.  A  gray-bearded  man  stood  beside  her  and  smiled  as  she 
smiled,  watching  the  play  of  her  features  all  the  while  with  the 


OUR    POLICE.  425 

delight  of  a  lover.  The  man  Becker  certainly  did  not  know,  but 
the  woman — .  He  was  about  to  give  the  enigma  up  when  he 
heard  the  elderly  man  say  in  an  unmistakably  American  accent : 

"  Clara,  I  think  that  head  very  like  yours." 

The  woman  turned  her  glance  towards  the  picture  and  disclosed 
the  features  of  Clara  Bechtel.  Becker  was  dumbfounded.  He 
had  met  the  woman  who  had  ruined  his  life  at  the  very  moment 
he  was  cherishing  repentance,  and  had  she  not  appeared  he  might 
have  turned  his  back  upon  his  former  associations  and  began  the 
world  anew.  But  his  future  was  fixed.  There  was  a  glance  at 
Becker,  but  that  glance  meant  everything.  Charles  was  on  his 
feet  in  an  instant.  A  moment  more  and  he  was  bowing  before 
her. 

"  My  husband,  Mr.  Becker,"  Clara  began.  "  Mr.  Becker  is 
an  old  friend  of  mine,  John."  And  thus  the  acquaintance  was 
renewed.  Becker  found  that  his  friends  were  living  for  a  short 
time  at  the  Grand  Hotel.  Her  husband  was  a  jeweler  who  had 
accumulated  a  large  fortune  by  side  speculations.  He  had  met 
Clara  at  a  German  festival,  fell  in  love  with  her  and  married  her. 
Clara  cared  as  little  for  him  as  she  did  for  her  other  admirers. 
She  wedded  him  solely  for  his  fortune.  The  thorough  badness  of 
the  woman  was  manifested  before  she  had  been  in  Paris  two 
months.  During  that  time  Becker  was  a  constant  visitor  at  the 
Grand  Hotel.  Clara's  husband  was  occasionally  absent  on  busi- 
ness. Clara  was  always  at  home  to  Becker,  and  this  friendship 
grew  finally  to  be  so  marked  that  Charles'  companions  began  to 
joke  with  him  about  it. 

"Pshaw,  boys,"  he  would  return,  "  Mrs. has  no  heart 

save  her  husband's  purse." 

But  he  soon  discovered  the  contrary.  Clara,  her  husband, 
Becker,  and  a  party  of  friends  took  a  barge  one  moonlight  night 
up  the  Seine.  Supper  was  taken  at  one  of  the  scores  of  restau- 
rants in  the  environs  of  the  city,  and  afterwards  the  party  broke 
up  into  groups  and  strolled  in  various  directions  to  pass  away  the 
time  as  best  they  might  until  the  hour  of  return.  Clara  and 
Becker  strolled  away  together.  Whatever  took  place,  Becker 
never  told  his  friends,  but  Clara  did  not  return  to  the  Grand 


426  OUR    POLICE. 

Hotel,  and  three  days  later  Joe  Elliott  and  Ivan  Siscovitch  joined 
Becker  and  Clara  in  Florence.  The  jeweler  obtained  a  divorce 
vrhen  he  returned  to  this  country.  Clara  remained  with  Becker 
for  nearly  a  year — until  he  was  imprisoned  in  Smyrna. 

It  was  while  Becker  and  his  gang  were  in  Florence  that  ho 
concocted  one  of  his  most  extensive  schemes  of  swindling. 
Turkey  was  then  a  comparatively  undiscovered  country  to  Amer- 
ican criminals.  It  had  been  avoided,  mainly  because  there  was 
little  ready  money  and  the  penalties  were  extreme.  But  Becker 
believed  in  his  luck  and  his  companions  believed  in  him,  so 
when  he  suggested  Turkey  as  the  scene  of  their  next  operations 
a  ready  assent  was  obtained.  The  plan  was  to  flood  the  larger 
cities  of  the  country  with  forged  drafts  upon  the  leading  bankers 
in  Constantinople.  The  blank  drafts  were  obtained  by  Becker 
by  his  cunning  and  then  his  skill  as  an  engraver  came  into  play. 
The  drafts  were  not  good  specimens  of  the  graver's  art  and  it  was 
a  very  easy  thing  for  him  to  imitate  them,  even  in  the  errors. 
He  did  this  with  such  remarkable  success  that  when  they  were 
produced  in  court,  experts  were  unable  to  tell  the  false  from  the 
genuine.  The  scheme  worked  very  well  for  a  time  and  Charles 
and  Clara,  the  latter  of  whom  had  lost  the  feeling  of  delicacy 
she  once  professed  of  loving  a  thief,  were  luxuriating  amidst 
their  surroundings.  The  party  of  swindlers  got  as  far  as  Smyrna, 
when  one  of  them,  Chapman  it  is  said,  by  a  blunder  drew  the 
attention  of  the  Turkish  police  to  their  presence  in  the  city. 
The  police  in  the  various  provinces  had  been  warned  against  a 
party  of  American  sharpers,  and  Becker,  Chapman,  Elliott,  and 
Siscovitch  were  arrested  on  suspicion.  They  were  held  for 
nearly  a  month  until  the  evidence  was  obtained  against  them,  and 
then  they  were  tried  and  sentenced  to  three  years  and  six 
months'  imprisonment.  The  prison  was  typical  of  oriental  jails. 
It  had  the  appearance  of  being  strong,  but  Becker  knew  better, 
and  he  had  almost  succeeded  in  getting  his  body  through  his  cell 
window  when  some  inquisitive  guards  prodded  him  with  their 
bayonets  and  made  him  get  back  again.  The  warning  was  suffi- 
cient for  the  Turkish  authorities.  Tliey  did  not  care  to  have  the 
Americans  escape  singly,  so  tlie  police  sent  them  all  to  the  great 


OUR    POLICE.  427 

prison  at  Constantinople.  When  he  got  there,  Becker  was 
informed  bj  Mrs.  Siscovitch  that  Clara  had  got  tired  of  waiting 
for  him  and  had  returned  to  America  again,  taking  with  her 
about  $8,000  belonging  to  him.  But  Becker  by  this  time  had 
begun  to  estimate  Clara  at  her  true  worth  and  he  did  not  grieve 
very  much.  His  only  ambition  now  was  to  get  out  of  the  prison 
and  follow  the  woman  to  America  and  punish  her.  Here  as  in 
Smyrna  the  prison  was  a  formidable  looking  structure  without, 
but  to  such  experts  as  Becker  and  his  gang  were,  it  did  not 
appear  impossible  to  get  away  from  it.  The  walls,  however, 
were  four  feet  in  thickness,  the  cells  had  solid  iron  doors  and  the 
windows  were  grated  with  steel  bars  an  inch  and  a  half  square. 
It  was  many  years  afterwards  that  Becker  told  of  his  and  his 
companions'  escape  from  Constantinople.  The  story  is  character- 
istic of  the  man.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  cell  doors  locked  with  top  and  bottom  bolts,  and  though 
each  had  its  key  there  was  a  general  key  that  fitted  all  of  them, 
A  key  like  that  is  useful,  you  know,  and  it  was  by  the  merest 
accident  that  we  got  one.  It  happened  one  day  that  the  prison 
marshal,  a  fat  little  Turk,  came  rushing  in  to  have  a  prisoner 
sign  some  papers,*  and  he  then  rushed  out  again  leaving  the  pass 
key  sticking  in  the  door.  It  wasn't  very  long  before  we  had  an 
impression  of  it  and  it  was  back  in  the  lock  again.  After  getting 
the  shape  of  the  key  we  had  Mrs.  Siscovitch  bring  us  two  blank 
keys,  some  little  files,  some  Turkish  caps,  and  three  lanterns. 
Chapman,  Elliott,  and  I  were  in  one  cell  and  Siscovitch  was  in 
with  some  sailors  around  the  corner  of  the  corridor.  I  was  the 
last  man  to  be  locked  up  at  night,  so  when  we  were  all  ready  and 
I  had  put  enough  rope  where  it  was  wanted,  I  stepped  around  and 
unlocked  the  door  of  Siscovitch's  cell  and  then  went  back  to  be 
locked  up.  At  about  midnight  when  the  guards  were  quietly 
snoring,  Siscovitch  got  out  of  his  cell  and  unlocked  our  door. 
Chapman  was  asleep  and  we  didn't  awaken  him  for  if  we  had 
he'd  have  hollered^  murder  !'  and  spoiled  our  plans.  We  broke 
open  the  store-room,  got  our  clothing  and  then  found  our  way 
into  the  prison  yard.  The  prison  wall  was  forty-two  feet  high 
but  we  boosted  Elliott  up  to  an  archway  and  with  the  aid  of 


428  oun  POLICE. 

a  rope  managed  to  get  up  to  the  top.  As  luck  would  have  it 
Elliott  stepped  on  the  wire  of  the  prison  bell  and  set  it  jingling 
in  a  way  that  froze  us  stiiF.  We,  however,  had  fooled  with  that 
bell  before  and  the  keeper  with  whose  room  the  wire  communi- 
cated, if  he  woke,  must  have  concluded  it  was  another  joke  and 
have  gone  asleep  again.  We  fixed  the  rope  and  down  it  we 
scrambled. 

"Another  trouble  then  confronted  us.  We  woke  up  about 
sixty  Mohammedan  dogs,  and  I  never  heard  curs  bark  louder. 
When  we  had  lighted  our  lanterns  the  dogs  stopped  howling. 
Finally  after  a  night's  wandering  and  many  narrow  escapes  from 
recapture  by  patrols,  we  got  settled  down  with  Mrs.  Siscovitch. 
Soon  a  Greek  friend  appeared  and  kept  us  concealed  in  his  house 
for  two  months.  I  sent  Elliott  to  England  after  some  money, 
and  when  he  came  back  we  all  went  to  London.  Mrs.  Siscovitch 
was  arrested  and  held  for  awhile  but  got  off  and  joined  her 
husband  in  London." 

Becker  does  not  tell  in  this  narrative  what  excitement  there 
Was  in  Constantinople  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  three 
Americans  had  escaped.  For  more  than  a  day  the  streets  were 
doubly  patroled  and  domiciliary  visits  were  made  in  all  suspected 
houses.  When  the  patrol  came  to  Mrs.  Siscovitch's  house,  the 
officers  found  four  women  instead  of  poor  lone  Mrs.  Siscovitch. 
The  three  visitors  were  the  escaped  prisoners,  but  the  patrol  were 
not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  fugitives  to  enable  them  to 
recognize  them.  It  was  the  most  serious  experience  of  Becker's 
life.  But  the  patrol  and  the  danger  passed  by  and  the  three 
American  sharpers  were  safe. 

The  trip  to  England  was  uneventful,  and  when  the  forgers 
landed  on  English  soil  they  again  had  the  world- before  them, 
Becker  again  having  the  opportunity  of  reforming  and  leading  an 
honest  life.  But  the  little  Carl  who  sat  on  the  banks  of  the 
Spree  and  waited  for  his  sister  was  gone  forever.  In  his  stead 
there  had  come  the  determined  rogue,  one  of  the  most  desperate 
and  villainous  of  his  crew,  a  man  known  to  the  police  in  every 
part  of  the  world  as  an  unmitigated  rascal.  Again  ho  had  an 
opportunity,  and  instead  of  doing  good  he  became  involved  in  a 


OUR  POLICE.  429 

dastardly  murder — the  killing  of  a  woman,  the  wife  of  one  of  his 
friends.  When  the  party  arrived  in  London  the  three  forgers 
went  directly  to  Mrs.  Chapman's  house.  They  had  left  her  hus- 
band in  a  Turkish  prison,  it  was  true,  but  this  did  not  abash 
them.  Becker  declared  that  Mrs.  Chapman  greeted  them  kindly, 
and  taking  them  in  did  all  that  a  human  being  could  do  for  their 
comfort.  They  lived  in  comparative  comfort  for  awhile.  Their 
lives,  however,  had  been  so  eventful  in  the  past  that  the  necessity 
of  being  respectable  began  to  be  irksome  for  them,  and  Becker 
and  Elliott  left  Mrs.  Chapman's  house.  Siscovitch  remained, 
ostensibly  waiting  for  his  wife.  One  morning,  about  two  months 
after  the  party  arrived  in  London,  the  papers  contained  articles 
describing  the  mysterious  murder  of  Mrs.  Chapman,  wife  of  a 
notorious  criminal  then  serving  a  term  in  a  Turkish  prison.  The 
articles  also  said  that  much  valuable  jewelry  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  money  belonging  to  the  murdered  woman  were  missing. 
The  woman,  according  to  the  belief  of  the  police  in  both  this 
country  and  England,  was  killed  because  her  silence  was  neces- 
sary for  the  safety  of  the  three  men,  and  as  she  was  angry 
because  her  husband  had  been  left  behind  by  his  friends,  the 
forgers  lived  in  constant  dread  lest  she  should  inform  the  police 
of  their  whereabouts.  The  three  drew  lots  as  to  who-  should 
commit  the  murder,  and  Siscovitch  was  the  one  chosen.  It  was 
easier  for  him  to  commit  the  crime,  too,  because  he  still  remained 
in  the  house.  On  the  day  after  the  killing  Siscovitch  was  miss- 
ing, and  soon  Becker  and  Elliott  received  word  from  him  that  he 
had  sailed  for  America.  The  two  rogues  did  not  remain  in 
England  long  after  their  confederate.  They  sailed  for  home  in 
July,  1876. 

Becker  had  been  in  New  York  only  about  four  months  when 
lie  met  a  very  pretty  girl  at  the  house  of  one  of  his  friends  in 
Brooklyn.  She  was  quiet  and  ladylike,  and  Becker  had  had 
sufficient  experience  with  the  faithless  Clara  to  make  him  appre- 
ciate these  charms  of  refinement  in  a  woman.  Despite  his  years 
of  adventure  and  dissipation,  Becker  was  a  fine-looking  man  and 
a  bright  talker.  The  little  Brooklyn  girl  captivated  him,  and  he 
in  turn  exerted  his  powers  upon  her.     He  was  successful,  and  ho 


430  OUR    POLICE. 

YTon  her  in  the  guise  of  a  fairly  prosperous  broker,  as  he  face- 
tiously termed  himself.  Her  family  did  not  approve  of  the  mar- 
riage merely  because  of  some,  to  them,  unaccountable  prejudice 
against  him.  That  Becker  was  and  still  is  devoted  to  this 
woman  there  is  little  doubt.  She  now  knows  his  true  character 
but  she  refuses  to  abandon  him.  The  forger  and  his  innocent 
little  wife  lived  together  in  Brooklyn  for  nearly  a  year  very  hap- 
pily, he,  according  to  his  assertions,  going  to  Wall  street  every 
morning  to  transact  his  business,  but  in  reality  going  to  a  house 
on  the  East  side  of  New  York,  where  he  was  engaged  in  forging 
a  check  for  $64,000  on  the  Union  Trust  Company.  In  the  early 
part  of  1877  the  check  was  perfected,  and  Becker,  riding  down 
to  Wall  street  in  a  cab  with  a  liveried  driver,  ascended  the  steps 
of  the  Union  Trust  Company  and  presented  the  forged  draft. 
The  imitation  of  the  genuine  check  was  so  perfect,  and  the 
amount  not  being  large  for  the  signer  of  the  check  to  draw,  the 
cashier  paid  it  without  much  hesitancy.  Becker  leaped  into  his 
cab  a^gain  and  drove  to  the  East  side  rendezvous,  where  he  was 
joined  by  Joe  Elliott  and  Clement  Herring.  There  the  division 
took  place  and  Becker  was  in  funds  again.  It  was  not  until  the 
check  had  gone  through  the  clearing  house  that  the  forgery  was , 
discovered,  and  by  that  time  the  men  had  had  ample  opportunity 
to  leave  the  city ;  but  the  resources  of  the  police  force  were  called 
upon,  and  not  in  vain.  On  April  10,  1877,  Becker,  Elliott  and 
Herring  were  arrested  by  Captain  Allaire  and  a  squad  of  police 
from  the  Fourteenth  precinct.  They  were  inhabiting  a  house  in 
One  Hundred  and  Seventy-seventh  street  with  Siscovitch  and  his 
wife,  Becker  going  to  and  fro  every  morning  and  evening  to  his 
wife  in  Brooklyn.  It  was  a  nest  of  counterfeiters  and  forgers 
that  Captain  Allaire  pulled  down,  for  with  his  prisoners  he 
brought  to  the  police  station  a  truck  load  of  presses,  lithographic 
stones,  instruments,  graver's  tools  and  the  like.  He  also  found 
a  genuine  Ohio  and  Toledo  Railway  bond  and  some  San  Domingo 
dollar  bills,  on  which  the  gang  had  been  evidently  working. 
With  the  bond  and  notes  was  a  quantity  of  blank  paper  cut  the 
proper  shapes  to  be  used  in  the  forgeries.  The  gang  was  im- 
prisoned for  trial  for  considerable  time,  when  Becker  consented 


OUR    POLICE.  431 

to  become  State's  evidence,  after  his  wife  had  spent  all  of  her  time 
trying  to  persuade  him  to  do  this — and  he  was  liberated. 

For  three  years  Becker  remained  as  nearly  a  respectable  citizen 
as  his  former  life  and  associations  would  allow  him.  He  abandoned 
all  sorts  of  dissipation,  remained  devoted  to  his  wife  and  home, 
and  came  very  nearly  recovering  the  respect  for  himself  without 
which  all  reform  is  temporary  and  illusionary.  He  declares  that 
his  wife  very  nearly  made  a  good  man  of  him.  She  should  have 
continued  her  good  work,  no  doubt,  and  thoroughly  redeemed 
him,  but  when  one  considers  that  despite  Becker's  villainous 
career  the  little  woman  loved  him,  that  his  will  dominated  hers 
completely,  that  his  wish  was  in  every  case  hers,  the  wonder  is 
that  instead  of  instilling  a  bit  of  her  own  goodness  into  her  hus- 
band, Mrs.  Becker  did  not  break  bonds  and  become  as  evil  a  mem- 
ber of  society  as  Charles.  Becker's  former  associates  persisted  in 
their  persuasions  that  he  was  losing  his  time  and  that  they  could 
not  possibly  get  along  without  him  in  their  operations.  Finally 
Joe  Elliott,  who  was  always  his  evil  genius,  called  on  Charles 
and  laid  before  him  what  was  one  of  the  most  gigantic  criminal 
schemes  that  an  American  criminal  ever  conceived.  It  was  to 
swindle  almost  every  well-known  banking  house  in  Europe  by 
means  of  forged  drafts  and  the  like.  The  most  notorious  forgers 
and  counterfeiters  in  the  world  were  interested  in  the  scheme, 
and  were  willing  to  aid  its  accomplishment  by  the  contribution 
of  their  money  or  their  services.  And  besides,  as  Elliott  put  it, 
Becker  need  not  of  necessity  leave  his  little  home  in  Brooklyn. 
He  could  do  his  work  there ;  in  fact  it  would  be  better  for  him 
to  do  so,  as  it  would  not  concentrate  the  work  in  any  one  city  or 
country. 

"  Give  me  time  to  think  over  the  matter,  Joe,"  answered 
Becker.     "  I'll  let  you  know  my  decision  in  a  week." 

The  seven  days  that  Becker  spent  in  considering  the  scheme 
and  the  chances  of  its  being  carried  out,  and  in  controlling  the 
urgent  request  of  his  wife  to  refuse  to  listen  to  Elliott,  were  per- 
haps the  most  serious  of  his  life.  It  was  during  this  time  that 
the  first  streaks  of  silver  began  to  show  in  his  black  hair.  The 
struggle  of  the  good  was  very  bitter,  but  the  evil  had  obtained 


432  OUR    POLICE. 

too  strong  a  footnold  and  conquered.     Becker  sent  a  dispatch  to 
Elliott,  who  was  then  in  New  Haven,  saying : 

"  I  consent.     Come  on  and  see  me." 

The  same  day  that  this  message  was  sent  Elliott  appeared  at  j 
the  little  house  in  Brooklyn  and  the  final  details  of  the  swindle  ^ 
were  arranged. 

*  *  .  *  *  Hi  4c 

There  was  a  party  of  four  Americans  staying  at  the  Hotel  de 
Nuova  York,  in  Florence,  Italy,  in  December,  1880,  which 
created  not  a  little  interest  among  the  other  guests  in  that 
pleasant  hostelry.  It  was  composed  of  two  men  and  their  wives. 
The  register  bore  the  names  of  Willis  and  wife  and  Colbert 
and  wife  of  New  York.  Their  baggage  was  extensive  and  they 
always  seemed  to  be  well  supplied  with  money.  The  dressing 
of  the  women,  while  not  in  the  strictest  mode,  was  rich  and 
not  inelegant.  The  party  was  apparently  bent  upon  pleasure, 
but  their  amusements  took  the  somewhat  eccentric  turn  of  con- 
tinually riding  into  the  country  about  Florence  and  sometimes 
remaining  at  a  little  villa  which  they  had  rented,  for  a  half  a 
week  at  a  time.  They  were  in  receipt  of  large  quantities  of 
mail  from  America,,  and  one  day  when  a  maid  was  cleaning  up 
one  of  the  rooms  in  the  suite  the  New  Yorkers  occupied,  she  dis- 
covered a  small  but  beautifully  engraved  copper  plate.  She  was 
looking  at  it,  when  Mrs.  Colbert  entered  and  snatching  it  away 
from  her,  exclaimed : 

"  You  huzzy,  what  are  you  looking  at  ?  " 

The  maid  was  so  frightened  at  this  experience  that  she  ran 
down  stairs  so  fast  as  to  fall  and  break  her  collar  bone,  which 
Mr.  Colbert  paid  the  fees  for  setting  and  caused  fifty  dollars  to  be 
given  to  the  girl  as  a  bolus  to  her  injuries. 

The  trips  to  the  country  and  occasional  evening  rows  on  the 
Arno  made  the  stay  in  Florence  very  pleasant  until  Christmas 
day,  when  five  gentlemen  clothed  in  the  severest  black  called  at 
the  Hotel  de  Nuova  York  and  asked  to  see  Signori  Willis  and 
Colbert.  The  two  gentlemen  referred  to  had  their  visitors  sum- 
moned to  one  of  their  parlors  and  there  awaited  them.     As  the 


OUR    POLICB.  433 

first  cf  the  five  gentlemen  in  black  entered,  Mr.  Colbert  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  exclaimed : 

"  By  heavens,  George,  they've  got  us  ! " 

"  Certainly  Messieurs,"  was  the  reply,  "you  are  our  prisoners." 

"What  is  the  charge?"  inquired  Mr.  Willis  with  considerable 
anxiety. 

"  You  are  arrested  on  the  suspicion  of  forging  Tunisian  and 
French  securities  for  the  purpose  of  swindling  banking  houses 
in  Italy,  and  you  have  already  issued  nearly  1,000,000  francs 
worth  of  the  bad  paper."  r 

"  Oh,"  said  Colbert  coolly,  "  and  that  is  what  you  think.  Now 
what  are  you  going  to  do  with  us  ?  '* 

"  Punish  you,"  was  the  brief  reply. 

Scarcely  had  this  party  been  arrested  in  Florence,  than  the 
police  of  Milan  captured  an  American  who  was  living  in  that 
city  under  the  name  of  Joy  Julius.  He  had  put  nearly  $500,000 
worth  of  securities  in  circulation.  When  these  arrests  were 
made  the  American  Consul  at  Naples  immediately  telegraphed  to 
Inspector  Byrnes  of  New  York,  asking  him  if  he  could  recognize 
either  of  the  men  arrested.  Within  forty-eight  hours  the  Consul 
received  the  following  cablegram  : 

Yes;  Colbert  is  "Shell"  Hamilton;  Harry  Willis  is  George  Wilkes  and 
Julius  is  "  Pete  "  Bjmes.  All  notorious  forgers  and  counterfeiters  on  a  job  in 
Italy.  BYRNES. 

Inspector  Byrnes  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the  cable  despatch 
from  the  consul  went  to  work  in  his  own  behalf.  He  discovered 
by  his  shadowing  system  that  he  had  not  long  ago  introduced,  that 
Charles  Becker,  although  it  was  believed  generally  among  the 
Brooklyn  police  that  he  was  leading  a  quiet  life,  was  with  George 
Engells,  the  ring-leader  of  the  gang  which  had  operated  so  suc- 
cessfully in  Europe.  He  discovered  that  the  combination  of 
rogues  had  floated  nearly  $800,000  worth  of  bogus  paper  in  the 
European  money  markets.  The  scheming  was  done.  Inspector 
Byrnes  declares,  by  Joe  Elliott,  George  Engells  and  Charles 
Becker.  Wilkes  was  sent  to  England  with  Pete  Byrnes  and  they 
were  soon  followed  by  Engells  and  Becker.  In  May,  1880,  a 
go-between,  in  company  with  "Bill"  Bartlett,  the  highwayman, 


434  OUR    POLICE. 

Henry  Wilson,  George  Bell  and  Henry  Cleary  started  for  London 
with  the  intention  of  aiding  their  predecessors  in  the  circulation 
of  the  counterfeits.  While  in  London,  Bartlett,  Bell,  Wilson  and 
Cleary  ran  short  of  funds  and  returned  to  New  York  in  July. 
While  crossing  the  ocean  Wilson  occasioned  considerable  amuse- 
ment among  his  companions  by  forging  a  check  and  swindling  the 
steamship  captain  out  of  one  hundred  pounds.  This  money  the 
gang  used  up  in  champagne,  of  which  they  drank  so  *  much  that 
when  they  reached  the  pier  in  New  York  they  were  all  so  intoxi- 
cated that  they  had  to  be  carried  ashore.  They  were  all  under  the 
protection  of  the  notorious.forger,  Charles  0.  Brockway,  however, 
and  when  he  learned  of  their  arrival  he  took  charge  of  them  and 
sent  them  to  Baltimore,  where  on  July  16  they  passed  three 
forged  checks  on  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  and  two  on  the 
Third  National  Bank.  The  gang  were  arrested  ten  days  after 
this  adventure. 

Very  shortly  after  this  Becker  and  Engells  returned  from 
Europe.  Inspector  Byrnes  was  told  of  their  coming  from  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean,  and  when  they  set  foot  on  these  shores 
they  had  "shadows  "  after  them.  The  detectives  finally  located 
the  two  forgers  at  a  house  in  Williamsburg,  N.  Y.,  near  the 
Cypress  Hills  Cemetery.  Inspector  Byrnes  then  detailed  De- 
tectives Slevin,  Rielly,  Lanthier  and  0' Conner  to  arrest  the  men. 
The  ofiicers  started  out  on  their  quest  and  found  the  house  in 
which  the  forgers  had  secreted  themselves  in  the  midst  of  an  open 
lot.  The  detectives  were  obliged  to  lie  in  wait  nearly  fourteen 
hours  before  Engells  appeared  and  was  arrested.  A  day  and  a 
half  afterwards  the  officers  saw  a  little  gray-bearded  old  man 
leave  the  place  and  go  towards  the  railway.  They  followed  him, 
and  just  as  he  was  boarding  a  car  to  the  ferries  they  arrested  him. 
They  soon  stripped  him  of  his  disguise  and  found  Charles  Becker. 
The  two  men  were  imprisoned  and  attempts  were  made  to  extra- 
dite them  by  the  French  government.  But  the  evidence  against 
them  was  not  sufficiently  strong  and  they  were  released  after 
spending  about  one  month  in  jail.  Becker  immediately  settled 
down  with  his  wife  in  Brooklyn  again,  and  to  all  intents  led  a 
comparatively  honest  life  for  nearly  a  month.     But  during  this 


OUR    POLICE.  485 

time  lie  was  z  very  busy  man.  He  was  engaged  on  a  job  which 
landed  him  in  prison  and  kepi  Lim  mere  for  six  years,  giving  him 
his  first  real  taste  of  prison-life. 

Becker  went  down  to  Wall  street  in  the  latter  part  of  August, 
1881,  and  invested  about  $200  in  a  1,000  franc  note  of  the  Bank 
of  France.  This  he  tucked  into  his  wallet  with  great  care,  lest 
it  should  show  any  crease,  and  started  over  to  East  New  York, 
where  his  friends  had  established  an  extensive  counterfeiting 
establishment  for  him  while  he  was  in  jail..  He  and  a  man  named 
Nathan  Marks,  a  constable  of  East  New  York,  were,  so  far  as 
could  be  ascertained,  the  only  persons  involved  in  the  crime. 
While  Becker  was  working  Marks  would  act  as  a  guard,  for 
Becker  had  become  so  well  known  by  this  time  that  private 
police  were  essential  to  him.  In  this  little  cottage  after  nearly 
four  weeks  of  work  Becker  had  almost  finished  what  was  perhaps 
the  most  perfect  counterfeit  ever  made.  He  was  on  September 
]  6,  spending  the  evening  with  his  wife  in  his  sister-in-law's  house 
in  Van  Sicklen  avenue,  when  he  was  summoned  into  the  recep- 
tion room  to  meet  two  detectives  who  had  been  informed,  it  is 
believed,  by  some  of  his  wife's  relatives  of  the  work  he  had  been 
engaged  on.  Becker  protested  vehemently  against  arrest,  but 
the  proofs  against  him  were  found  in  his  work-shop  and  he  was 
tried.  The  president  of  the  Bank  of  France  came  to  this  country 
as  a  witness  against  the  forger,  and  in  the  course  of  his  testimony, 
while  inspecting  the  nearly  completed  note,  said  that  had  it  been 
completed  it  would  have  been  more  perfect  than  the  original. 
Becker's  career  had  become  so  notorious  that  the  intent  to  defraud 
was  counted  against  him  in  the  evidence  and  he  was  sentenced  to 
serve  six  years  and  six  months  in  the  King's  county  penitentiary. 

When  he  entered,  however,  he  made  the  boast  that  he  would 
not  remain  long,  as  he  was  "too  valuable  a  man"  to  be  deprived 
of  his  liberty.  His  friends  made  a  similar  threat,  but  the  King's 
county  penitentiary  does  not  resemble  the  Constantinople  one  in 
the  management,  and  Becker  was  held  fast.  He  began  his  sentence 
on  December  14,  1881,  and  in  the  following  February  he  made 
a  bold  attempt  to  secure  his  liberty.  Becker  had  many  friends 
call  upon  him,  and  these  friends  usually  came  to  him  when  they 


436  OUR    POLICE. 

• 
could  converse  with  him  through  the  cell  door  only.     One  day 

Warden  Green  received  private  information  from  the  outside  that 
Charles  Becker  was  planning  an  escape,  and  that  in  consequence 
his  cell  had  better  be  searched.  The  warden  followed  this  sug- 
gestion with  excellent  results.  Under  the  ticking  in  the  mattress 
were  found  two  keys,  one  to  Becker's  cell  door  and  the  other  to 
the  doors  of  the  corridor.  He  was  confronted  with  the  evidence 
of  his  intention  and  asked  if  he  recognized  the  keys. 

"Yes,"  he  replied;  "I  was  weary  of  this  place.  I  wanted 
to  get  out  to  take  a  little  stroll." 

"  Who  procured  them  for  you  ?'* 

"  Well,  you  must  think  me  a  chump !    None  of  your  business." 

For  this  attempt  to  shorten  his  imprisonment  Becker's  com- 
mutation for  good  behavior  was  decreased.  He  always,  after  this 
discovery,  acted  in  the  most  exemplary  manner,  and  the  way  he 
did  his  work  in  the  shoe  shop  attested  to  his  intention  of  being 
a  good  prisoner.  His  wife  during  the  term  of  his  imprisonment 
was  devoted  to  him,  continually  sending  him  little  delicacies  and 
appearing  at  the  office  regularly  on  visiting  days.  When  he  was 
liberated  on  June  14,  188T,  his  little  blonde-haired  wife  was 
waiting  for  him  in  the  prison  reception-room.  As  her  husband 
appeared  she  sprang  towards  him,  threw  her  arms  around  his 
neck  and  sobbed : 

"  Charley,  Charley,  dear,  you  are  mine  once  more  I  You'll 
be  good  now,  won't  you,  dear  ?" 

"Yes,  pet;  I'll  try  to  be,"  was  his  answer. 

The  forger's  wife  turned  towards  Warden  Green,  who  was 
standing  near  and  said : 

"  You  hear,  Mr.  Green ;  Charley  says  he  is  going  to  be  good 
now.     Isn't  that  kind  to  his  wife  ?" 

"  I  trust  to  God,  madam,"  was  the  warden's  reply,  "  that  your 
husband  will  keep  his  word.     Good-bye,  Charley,  my  boy." 


OUR  POLICB.  43? 


CHAPTER    XXIX, 

SBE    HISTORY   OF    THE    OPERATIONS    OP    BROCKWAY'S    GANG    OP 

FORGERS   IN  BALTIMORE  IN  1880. REMARKABLE   CONSPIRACY 

TO  ROB  THE  CITY'S  GREAT  BANKING  INSTITUTIONS. — ^THB 
SWINDLERS  GET  AWAY  WITH  MORE  THAN  $10,000  FROM  TWO 
BANKS. — PURSUIT  AND  CAPTURE  OP  THE  CRIMINALS. — THE 
FORGERS   IN   PRISON  AT   LAST. 

*  Crime  is  progressive.  That  its  disciples  are  enterprising  is 
attested  by  the  amazing  improvements  almost  daily  made  on 
accepted  inventions  for  surreptitiously  gaining  the  property  of 
others.  The  veiy  highest  art  in  mechanism,  genius  in  science, 
and  prowess  in  planning,  are  judiciously  blended  in  the  one  pur- 
pose, and  from  them  are  evolved  schemes  of  such  brilliant  daring 
and  wonderful  workmanship  as  excite  regret  that  the  wasted 
forces  have  been  lost  to  the  world  for  better  ends. 

The  days  of  Robin  Hood,  Claude  Duval,  Sir  Toby  Belch,  and 
Nitouche  have  passed  away,  and  instead  of  their  commonplace 
"stand  and  deliver"  plan,  which  required  only  boldness  and 
courage  to  secure  the  money  bags,  has  succeeded  an  era  of  polished 
knavery  so  closely  interwoven  with  what  is  commendable  that 
it  requires  a  keen  grade  of  mental  discernment  to  detect  it  from 
the  genuine  good.  As  in  crime,  so  in  the  ramifications  of  justice 
intended  to  combat  it :  the  progress  of  the  one  has  been  followed 
by  the  advancement  of  the  other. 

The  professional  rogues  of  America  are  the  equals  of  their 
fellows  in  any  other  part  of  the  globe.  This  is  so  because  of  the 
intricate  character  of  American  civilization,  and  of  the  manifold 
commercial  interests  here  at  stake,  elements  that  have  a  tendency 
to  school  the  minds  of  those  criminally  inclined,  and  to  disclose 
opportunities  to  plunder  sufficiently  seductive  to  induce  the  risk 
of  liberty.     The  private  fiduciary  responsibilities  and  the  public 

*  Contributed  by  John  Morris,  Esq.,  of  the  Baltimore  Sun. 


438  OUR    POLICE. 

trusts  of  every  large  city  are  such  powerful  incentives  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  thief  s  arts  that  crimes  are  perpetrated  oftener 
against  public  and  corporate  property  than  against  private  pos- 
sessions. The  bravest  and  boldest  rascals  generally  devote  their 
energies  in  this  country  to  depredations  upon  institutions  of  a 
public  character. 

Of  all  the  classes  of  criminals  there  is  none  that  have  displayed 
greater  intelligence  or  cleverer  facilities  for  working  illegal  injury 
to  the  moneyed  holdings  of  the  people  than  the  forgers.  They 
are  the  bane  of  the  business  world.  Vaults  of  steel  and  armors 
of  electrical  appliances  may  guard  in  the  night  the  wealth  of 
men,  but  no  guaranty  of  security  can  be  offered  the  individual, 
in  broad  daylight,  against  the  machinations  of  the  artist,  whose 
ability  enables  him  to  so  accurately  counterfeit  the  agencies  of 
commercial  intercourse  as  to  deceive  even  those  who  have 
originated  such  mediums.  The  forger  must  be  accorded  a 
niche  in  the  temple  of  (criminal  fame  as  high  as  that  of  any 
other  law-breaker,  who  brings  all  the  attributes  of  an  in- 
ventive mind  and  the  adroitness  of  skilled  hands  to  the 
work  of  his  trade.  In  him  the  art  of  the  mechanic  is  com- 
pounded with  an  accurate  knowledge  of  human  nature;  the 
skill  of  the  artist  who  can  use  his  scientific  tools  is  rein- 
forced by  the  learning  of  the  chemist  and  the  mathematician. 
The  hand  that  can  execute  the  finest  sort  of  tracing  can  as  readily 
detect  the  composition  of  inks.  In  a  word,  the  expert  forger  is 
an  inventor,  a  designer,  an  engraver,  a  chemist,  a  mathematician, 
an  artist  and  a  mechanic.  At  the  start  his  resources  are  put  into 
play,  for  if  he  be  unable  to  get  samples  of  the  paper  used  by  the 
bank  or  firm  whose  checks  he  intends  to  counterfeit,  he  is  com- 
pelled, when  he  knows  he  will  have  to  deal  with  keen-sighted 
men,  to  manufacture  his  sheets.  The  paper  for  his  imitation 
may  be  of  linen,  or  have  silk  woven  through  its  fibres,  or  be  of  a 
'kind  made  solely  for  the  use  of  some  certain  establishment.  All 
these  difiiculties  he  must  surmount  by  his  inventive  tact.  Again, 
his  dies  and  his  other  tools  must  be  of  his  own  or  his  accomplice's 
make,  since  to  buy  them  would  give  a  clue  toward  his  detection. 
As  a  lithographer  he  can  take  an  impression  from  stone  and  en- 


OUR   POLICE.  439 

grave  it  on  a  steel  or  copper  plate  to  fill  his  blank.  His  are  the 
qualities  of  patience,  prudence,  and  ingenuity.  Prison  life  does 
not  subdue  his  talents.  It  may  shut  them  out  from  the  progress 
of  his  profession,  but  too  often  it  only  matures  their  keenness. 
Such  are  the  characteristics  of  men  who  have  earned  for  them- 
selves reputations  for  being  great  forgers.  Charles  0.  Brockway 
is  unquestionably  the  foremost  forger  of  America  and  the  equal 
of  any  of  his  kith  across  the  water.  His  was  the  most  successful 
gang  of  its  kind  that  ever  traveled  the  States,  succeeding  as  they 
did  in  victimizing  banks  to  the  extent  of  at  least  $500,000.  The 
history  of  this  band  reads  like  a  romance.  Men  of  infinite  cun- 
ning, men  of  consummate  boldness,  men  who  had  the  prison  mark 
time  and  again  stamped  on  them,  the  Brockway  gang  represented 
the  pick  of  the  criminal  profession,  bound  together  by  the  honor 
of  thieves  for  the  purpose  of  plundering  the  people  through  the 
forgeries  devised  by  their  wily  leader.  "Well  fitted  was  Brockway 
for  his  work.  From  the  very  day  he  reached  manhood's  estate 
in  his  native  city  of  New  York,  twenty-six  years  ago,  his  life  has 
been  one  of  continued  crime.  His  quality  of  holding  others  to 
him  by  his  superior  individuality  has  had  much  to  do  with  his 
success.  No  man  was  used  by  him  whose  will  was  not  submissive 
to  his,  and  in  return  for  such  allegiance  the  noted  forger  gave 
unswerving  friendship  and  financial  aid  when  the  houi*  of  distress 
arrived.  Thus  it  was  that  George  Bell,  Albert  Wilson,  Henry 
Cleary,  William  Ogle,  George  Hamill,  William  Bartlett  and 
Charles  Farren,  a  coterie  of  sneaks  and  burglars,  possessing  all 
the  essential  qualifications  for  "laying  down"  the  "stufi*"  which 
Brockway  produced,  were  singly  and  in  numbers,  at  various  times 
before  and  during  1880,  under  his  control.  It  was  only  in  the 
latter  year  that  the  forces  were  recruited  and  the  gang  as  named 
fully  organized. 

Bell,  a  highw^ayman  who  had  served  time  in  the  Eastern  Pen- 
itentiary of  Pennsylvania  for  grabbing  a  package  of  money  from 
the  hands  of  a  bank  messenger  in  Philadelphia  during  the  Cen- 
tennial year;  "Al."  Wilson,  burglar  and  shoplifter;  Henry 
Cleary  and  William  Bartlett,  burglars,  arrived  from  England 
after  an  unsuccessful  trip  to  that  country.     They  had  gone  there 


440  OUR    POLICE. 

at  the  invitation  of  George  Wilkes,  the  notorious  forger,  to 
operate  for  a  company  of  American  and  French  forgers  who  had 
invented  a  method  by  which  the  banking  houses  of  Europe  could 
be  defrauded  on  a  gigantic  scale  by  means  of  spurious  circular 
notes.  Identified  with  Wilkes  in  the  management  of  this  scheme 
were  Dan  Noble,  who  with  Brockway  kept  a  faro  game  in  New 
York  at  one  time,  George  Engells  and  Charles  Becker,  known  to 
every  detective  as  most  skillful  check  imitators.  Hardly  had 
they  reached  England  before  Bell,  Cleary,  Bartlett,  and  Wilson 
were  deputized  to  visit  Brussels,  Rotterdam,  Amsterdam,  Berlin, 
Hamburg,  Cologne,  Aix-la-chapelle,  Milan,  Turin,  Florence, 
Geneva,  and  Bremen,  with  instructions  to  procure  drafts  from 
merchants  of  those  cities  on  their  correspondents  in  London. 
They  had  brought  with  them  from  America  a  letter  of  credit  to 
the  Soci^ti^  G^ndrale  of  Brussels,  and  with  this  as  a  "blind" 
started  out  on  their  mission.  While  at  their  work,  each  having 
a  route  of  his  own  to  cover,  Dan  Noble  passed  a  forged  check  on 
a  London  bank  and  was  arrested.  Just  as  the  trio  reached  there, 
after  completing  the  duties  assigned.  Noble  was  sentenced  to 
twenty  years  imprisonment  at  hard  labor.  His  extreme  punish- 
ment, coupled  with  information  Wilkes  received  that  the  New 
York  police  had  disclosed  their  presence  to  the  English  author- 
ities frightened  the  others,  and  the  whole  job  was  abandoned. 
Bell,  Cleary,  Bartlett,  and  Wilson  were  each  given  <£2  and  sent 
back  to  the  United  States  with  their  passages  paid.  This  little 
fund  of  money  they  had  did  not  last  long.  The  Fourth  of  July 
overtook  them  riding  on  the  ocean's  foamy  crest  without  a  shilling 
in  their  pockets.  But  their  patriotism  was  not  to  be  quenched  so 
easily.  Smiling  and  plausible,  they  approached  the  captain  of 
the  vessel  and  whispered  to  him  in  confidence  a  tale,  which  se 
impressed  him  that  he  advanced  them  £50  in  order  that  they  might 
appropriately  commemorate  the  birthday  of  their  nation.  They 
enjoyed  a  glorious  celebration.  When  the  steamship  touched  her 
New  York  pier  the  quartette  quickly  disappeared.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  the  captain  never  saw  his  fifty  pounds  again.  The 
criminals  were  once  again  free  to  seek  their  favorite  haunts  ;  to 
roam  the  land  for  spoils. 


OUR    POLICE.  441 

On  a  pleasant  morning  toward  the  end  of  June,  1880,  a  hand- 
some man,  in  the  prime  of  life,  elegantly  dressed,  and  wearing  a 
well-trimmed  beard,  entered  a  well-known  drinking  place  kept 
by  a  man  named  Reilly,  not  far  from  the  City  Hall  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  requested  the  barkeeper  to  serve  him  a  glass  of 
sherry.  As  the  attendant  turned  to  fetch  a  bottle  from  a  buffet 
ledge  behind  him  the  patron  looked  cautiously  over  his  shoulder 
in  tho  direction  of  a  group  of  customers  who  stood  conversing  at 
one  end  of  the  saloon  and  eyed  them  critically  for  an  instant. 
Besides  himself  and  the  barkeeper,  they  were  the  only  ones  in  the 
place.  His  sharp,  quick  glance,  expressive  alike  of  expectation 
and  disappointment  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  leisurely  man- 
ner assumed  as  he  sipped  the  wine  set  before  him.  With  an  air  of 
composure  he  paid  for  his  drink  and  sauntered  into  the  street. 
Even  the  practised  observer  could  detect  nothing  in  his  manner 
foreign  to  the  appearance  of  a  well-to-do  merchant.  It  would  have 
been  as  far  from  the  minds  of  any  of  the  hundreds  of  individuals 
who  passed,  busy  with  their  own  affairs,  to  suspect  that  the  man 
they  saw  was  Charles  0.  Brockway,  faro  dealer,  counterfeit  money 
handler,  and  renowned  forger,  as  it  would  have  been  for  them  to 
think  that  the  athletic-looking  young  man,  who  approached  him 
from  an  opposite  direction  with  a  look  of  recognition,  was  a  thiefs 
companion.  Brockway  it  was  though,  and  the  fellow  who  ac- 
costed him  was  his  protege,  Charles 'Farren,  just  finding  his  way 
into  police  notoriety  in  consequence  of  the  frequency  with  which 
he  was  found  in  the  society  of  known  criminals.  The  pair  had 
agreed  to  meet  atf  Reilly's,  where  they  had  frequently  gone  before, 
but  Farren  being  late,  Brockway  was  going  in  search  of  him. 
Together  they  walked  along,  chatting  in  subdued  tones.  Said 
Brockway : 

"  Made  up  your  mind  to  do  it  ?'* 

"  Certainly ;  I'll  go  over,'*  replied  his  companion ;  **  there  aint 
any  danger." 

"  None  in  the  least,"  assured  the  forger ;  "  the  play  is  common 
enough.     When  will  you  go  ?" 

"  Whenever  you  say." 


442  OUR    POLICE. 

"  All  right.  Start  to-morrow.  I'll  give  you  the  stuff  to-night. 
You  know  how  to  work  it." 

^'Yes." 

"Be  careful  not  to  go  in  on  the  jump.  Wait  till  things  open 
up;  then  lay  down.     Get  paper,  you  understand." 

An  affirmative  nod  of  the  head  was  Farren's  answer,  and  so 
they  talked  and  strolled  until  they  were  lost  in  the  surging 
crowds  of  the  great  city. 

That  conversation  indexed  the  history  of  the  forgeries  perpe- 
trated on  the  Merchants'  and  the  Third  National  Banks  of  Balti- 
more by  Brockway  and  his  satellites,  whereby  they  managed  to 
get  from  the  former  institution  $7,455,  and  from  the  latter 
$2,690.50. 

The  great  forger  had  selected  the  Monumental  City  as  the 
scene  of  his  operations.  The  details  were  carefully  mapped  out; 
the  first  and  important  one  of  which  was  that  the  check  of  some 
prominent  banker  or  firm  should  be  obtained  that  it  might  be 
counterfeited,  and  the  imitation  passed  for  a  large  sum  on  the 
bank  where  the  face  of  the  original  indicated  the  account  was 
kept.  Brockway  knew  the  names  of  several  prominent  banking 
firms  of  the  city,  including  Messrs.  J.  Harmanus  Fisher  &  Co., 
Middendorf  &  Oliver,  D.  Fahnestock  &  Co.,  Wilson,  Colston  & 
Co.,  Roche  &  Coulter,  and  William  Fisher  &  Sons,  whose  checks 
he  intended  securing.  The  sequel  will  show  that  he  succeeded 
to  the  extent  of  only  one-half  of  his  expectations. 

The  extensive  scale  of  the  proposed  fraud  surpassed  anything 
of  the  kind  ever  attempted  in  Baltimore.  Had  It  not  been  inter- 
rupted by  the  refusal  of  some  of  the  firms  to  deal  with  strangers 
the  loss  of  more  than  $10,000  would  have  been  many  times 
greater.  A  check  of  a  banker  was  the  initial  requisite.  Hence 
it  was  that  Brockway  instructed  Farren  to  obtain  one.  Mr.  J. 
Harmanus  Fisher,  whose  office  was  on  South  street  near  German 
street,  was  selected  as  the  first  whose  paper  was  wanted.  The 
admonitions  of  Brockway  to  Farren,  as  applied  to  this  case  Avere 
that  the  latter  should  go  to  Mr.  Fisher's  and  tender  for  sale  the 
"stuff,"  which  in  this  instance  was  a  $50  United  States  Govern- 
ment bond,  and  ask  for  a  check  in  payment.     As  a  precaution, 


OUR    POLICE  443 

Farren  was  not  to  enter  tho  office  until  a  couple  of  hours  after 
business  for  the  day  was  commenced,  the  point  involved  being 
that  an  early  caller  ran  greater  risk  of  identification  and  suspicion 
|in  subsequent  trouble  than  one  who  called  after  many  faces  had 
been  presented  to  the  view  of  the  clerks.  The  night  of  the  day 
of  their  conference  Brockway  gave  the  bond  to  Farren.  Bright 
and  clear  was  the  morning  of  June  18,  1880,  when  a  young 
man  of  stout  build  quitted  the  office  of  J.  Harmanus  Fisher, 
at  about  eleven  o'clock,  with  a  check  for  $54.13  in  his 
pocketbook,  in  return  for  a  $50  bond  he  sold  to  the  banker. 
The  seed  had  been  sown  and  the  harvest  was  soon  to  be 
reaped.  The  next  day  Brockway,  from  the  hands  of  Farren,  re- 
ceived the  check,  which  was  lithographed  by  A.  Hoen  &  Co.,  of 
this  city,  and  bore  in  its  centre  in  buff  colors  the  internal  revenue 
stamp.  He  was  no  longer  seen  idly  parading  the  streets,  or 
visitiug  his  former  haunts,  for  work  was  before  him  of  such  deli- 
cate and  intricate  character  that  the  closest  attention  was  neces- 
sary for  its  execution.  Hid  away  from  the  world  in  quarters  he 
had  engaged  in  Providence,  B.  I.,  he  labored  assiduously  in  the 
production  of  his  duplicate.  One  week  from  the  day  Farren 
first  came  to  Baltimore  on  his  nefarious  mission  he  got  possession 
of  checks  from  Messrs.  Middendorf  &  Oliver  and  D.  Fahnestock 
&  Co.  There  was  nothing  strange  in  the  transactions,  for  it  was 
an  almost  daily  occurrence  for  persons  to  sell  bonds  to  these 
firms.  Into  Brockway's  hands  all  the  checks  went,  and  from  his 
skill  came  forth  imitations  so  cleverly  engraved  that  the  aid  of  a 
magnifying  glass  was  necessary  to  unveil  their  difference  from 
the  originals.  The  lithographers  themselves  were  unable  to  dis- 
cern with  naked  eye  the  parts  of  divergence,  save  in  the  color 
of  the  revenue  stamp,  which  was  a  shade  darker  in  the  counter- 
feit than  in  the  genuine.  The  workmanship  was  of  such  high 
Older,  the  private  stamps,  numbers,  the  lithographer's  imprint  at 
the  bottom,  even  the  die  used  by  Mr.  Fisher  for  punching  the 
amount  of  the  check,  were  brought  out  so  intelligently  as  to  baffle 
detection  by  those  used  to  handling  the  bona  fide  checks  daily. 
Brockway  had  done  the  task  well,  and  he  was  giving  it  the  finish- 
ing touches  when  the  news  reached  him  that  Bell,  Cleary,  Wilson, 


444  OUR    POLICE. 

and  Bartlett  had  landed  in  New  York.  The  information  upset 
his  minor  plans ;  withal  it  w^as  glad  tidings.  Instead  now  of 
having  to  rely  on  Billy  Ogle  and  George  Hamill,  who  on  calmer 
consideration  Brockway  was  inclined  to  believe  were  too  well 
known  in  the  East,  and  Farren,  a  novice,  he  was  in  a  position  to 
dicker  with  the  new  arrivals,  and  organize  them,  with  those  he 
already  had,  into  a  formidable  "  mob."  One  of  his  first  questions 
was  in  reference  to  the  financial  standing  of  the  tourists,  and 
when  told  by  the  harbinger  of  current  doings  that  they  were 
"  dead  broke,"  he  saw  the  last  barrier  to  his  success  swept  away. 
Accordingly  he  came  on  to  New  York  and  met  his  future  allies. 
They  were  eager  for  a  job,  and  listened  readily  to  his  proposi- 
tions. By  his  advice  they  made  Reilly's  saloon  their  rendezvous. 
At  certain  hours  every  morning  for  a  week  the  entire  gang  would 
visit  the  place  in  twos  and  threes,  and,  after  a  social  glass,  depart. 
Those  who  saw  them  thought  the  men  doing  business  in  that 
locality.  During  this  time  Brockway  was  perfecting  his  arrange- 
ments, until  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  July  15,  1880,  he 
announced  to  his  companions  that  all  was  consiimmated.  The 
report  was  hailed  with  delight,  for  funds  were  low.  The  chief, 
who  asserted  his  authority  from  the  start,  and  whose  right  to  do 
80  no  one  questioned,  said  further  that  a  "backer"  had  been 
secured,  who  would  put  up  money  for  expenses  and  legal  counsel, 
as  customary  when  a  thoroughly  regulated  gang  goes  on  the  road, 
to  defend  any  member  of  it  who  might  be  entrapped  in  the  net 
of  the  law. 

"Furthermore,"  said  Brockway,  "we  will  leave  Billy  and 
George  behind  (meaning  Ogle  and  Hamill)  to  look  out  for  snags, 
and  I  will  go  down  to  Baltimore  with  the  rest  of  you  this  after- 
noon ;  but  before  we  trip  it,  suppose  we  settle  the  stakes." 

"  Take  what  you  want,"  laconically  spoke  Bell. 

"  If  we  flash  up  anything  I  want  one-half  the  whole  pile.  Is 
it  a  go?" 

The  others  agreed  it  was.  The  demand  seemed  exorbitant  at 
first  glance,  but  longer  thought  showed  it  to  be  only  a  fair  division 
with  the  man  who  not  alone  chanced  his  liberty,  but  to  whose 
arm  and  head  were  due  the  essential  step  to  victory.     This  done 


ouii  POLICE.  445 

the  remainder  of  the  prospective  winnings  was  to  be  parted  into 
halves,  one  of  which  was  to  go  to  the  ''backer"  and  the  other 
to  he  apportioned  equally  among  the  "layers  down."  All 
being  in  readiness  Brockway  and  his  men  embarked  for  Balti- 
more. The  resumption  of  business  in  this  city,  on  the  morning 
of  July  16,  found  the  accessories  patiently  awaiting  their  re- 
spective opportunities  to  pounce  on  the  offices  that  were  to  furnish 
them,  innocently,  the  firms'  signatures  and  figures  wherewith 
to  impose  on  the  banks.  Brockway  knew  that  Cleary  and  Farren 
were  the  best  for  his  purpose.  Both  were  quick  and  ready  of 
speech  and  action,  smacking  of  the  commercial  order,  and  innately 
polite.  A  few  words  of  explanation  and  they  entered  on  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties.  Cleary  made  the  first  move.  In  he 
stepped  briskly  to  the  counting-room  of  J.  Ilarmanus  Fisher  and 
tendered  for  sale  a  $100  United  States  bond,  four  per  cent.,  to 
Mr.  Harry  Orrick,  the  chief  clerk,  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Orrick  &  May,  stock  brokers.  The  offer  was  accepted  and  Cleary 
paid  partly  cash  and  the  balance  in  a  55-1:  check  on  the  Merchants* 
National  Bank,  payable  to  George  Hunter. 

Without  further  ado  he  left  the  office  and  went  directly  to  that 
of  D.  Fahnestock,  a  few  doors  removed,  Avhere  he  repeated  his 
operation  and  was  given  another  check  for  $54,  this  time  drawn 
to  the  order  of  Samuel  E.  Hunt,  and  §50  in  cash.  In  the  mean- 
while Farren  was  not  idle.  He  had  gone  to  Middendoi  f  &  Oliver's 
with  three  $100  bonds  of  the  same  issue  as  those  used  by  his  co- 
temporary.  For  one  (f  them  he  obtained  in  return  all  cash,  and 
for  the  others  checks  for  $54  in  favor  of  Henry  Murdock  and 
George  W.  Kimball,  and  treasury  bills.  This  division  of  the 
work  accomplished  they  sought  their  source,  who  was  waiting  on 
Exchange  Place,  and  to  him  they  handed  their  receipts.  Armed 
with  these  Brockway  went  off  to  a  hotel  where  he  alone  had  a 
room,  to  press  his  die  and  pen  into  service.  The  checks  gave  him 
the  signatures  of  their  makers  and  the  numbers  of  the  checks 
of  the  firms  for  that  day,  everything  that  Avas  needed  to  aid  him 
in  completing  the  make-up  of  his  forged  orders.  While  he  was 
doing  this,  Cleary  and  Farren  made  a  round  of  these  same  offices 
shortly  after  dinner  and  bought  back  the  bonds  they  sold  in  the 


446  OUR    POLICE. 

morning,  thereby  removing  any  clues  which  the  numbers  of  the 
securities  might  present. 

During  the  interim  between  the  departure  of  Brockway  and 
his  return  to  the  corner  of  South  and  Lombard  streets,  where  he 
promised  to  station  himself,  Bell  was  loitering  around  the  Second 
street  entrance  to  the  post-oflfice  and  his  colleagues,  Wilson  and 
Bartlett,  around  the  corner  of  Gay  street.  They  knew  when 
their  chief  would  be  at  his  post.  He  was  punctual  to  the  minute, 
and  so  was  Cleary,  who  was  to  "lay  down"  the  beginning  of 
the  series  of  forged  orders.  Brockway  gave  his  man  one  of  the 
engraved  checks  for  $1,394,  bearing  on  its  front  the  fictitious 
signature  of  Middendorf  and  Oliver. 

"  If  they  don't  take  it  this  way,"  said  the  chief  to  Cleary, 
"  come  out  and  meet  me  at  the  corner  above,  and  I'll  shape  it." 

"  Correct !  "  was  the  word  from  Cleary  as  he  walked  alone 
towards  the  Third  National  Bank. 

It  was  two  o'clock  as  he  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  main  door. 
The  paying  teller,  Mr.  N.  B.  Medairy,  was  deep  in  his  accounts 
and  did  not  raise  his  head  until  the  figure  of  a  person  passed  the 
opening  in  the  screen  in  front  of  him.  Then  he  lifted  his  eyes 
and  saw  a  well  dressed  young  man  approach  a  desk  used  by  de- 
positors and  take  from  an  inside  pocket  of  his  cut-away  coat  a 
check,  which  he  endorsed  on  the  back  in  the  manner  of  one  accus- 
tomed to  such  doings.  "With  a  business  air  the  new  comer 
stepped  to  the  counter  in  front  of  Mr.  Medairy  and  passed 
through  the  screen  the  paper  he  had  just  signed.  The  teller 
read  on  its  face  that  it  was  in  favor  of  George  W.  Kimball  and 
that  the  same  name  was  inscribed  on  the  back.  The  check  was 
regular  looking  enough,  but  as  a  matter  of  business  precaution 
Mr.  Medairy  said,  "you  will  have  to  be  identified,  sir,  before  I 
can  pay  you  this  amount." 

"Oh!  very  well,"  replied  Cleary,  "just  give  me  the  check 
and  I'll  step  around  to  Middendorf  &  Oliver's  and  get  their  en- 
dorsement." 

The  check  was  once  again  in  his  pocket  and  with  it  Cleary  left 
the  bank.  At  the  south-east  corner  of  South  and  Second  streets, 
Brockway  had  taken  up  his  stand  and  was  on  the  watch  for  him. 


OUR   POLICE.  447 

No  sooner  did  he  make  known  the  trouble  than  the  chief  took  the 
check  and  stepped  briskly  into  the  cigar  and  tobacco  store  of 
H.  W.  Totebusch  and  asked  of  Mr.  R.  C.  Totebusch.  a  clerk,  the 
use  of  pen  and  ink.  On  their  being  furnished  he  pushed  to  a 
far  end  of  a  show  case  and  in  a  minute  had  the  name  of  Midden- 
dorf  &  Oliver  on  the  back  of  the  check.  The  imitation  was 
excellent  in  all  respects.  Cleary  again  sought  the  bank  and  ap- 
peared for  the  second  time  before  Mr.  Medairy,  who,  all  seeming 
satisfactory,  paid  out  $1,394.  The  "layer  down  '*  counted  the 
money  carefully  and,  finding  it  correct,  politely  thanked  the 
teller  and  left.  The  first  undertaking  had  progressed  so  easily 
that  Brockway  was  delighted  and  determined  to  push  his  game 
further  through  Bell,  whom  he  now  summoned  and  directed  to 
**  do  "  the  Merchants*  National  Bank  for  a  like  amount. 

"  Hit  it  just  before  it  shuts  up,"  advised  the  forger.  "  Her« 
you  are,  all  shaped,  George,  the  same  as  Hen.  (meaning  Cleary), 
layed  down,  excepting  you've  the  brace  on  the  back,"  and  he 
gave  him  another  check  for  $1,394,  also  drawn  to  the  order  of 
George  W.  Kimball,  but  in  this  instance  by  J.  Harmanus  Fisher, 
seemingly  indorsed  by  that  broker's  attorney,  H.  A.  Orrick. 

"Won't  be  any  trouble,"  said  Bell,  "the  fist  is  so  well  known 
and  you  have  covered  it  nicely.  "I'll  take  Farren  with  me, 
and  he  can  nose  around  for  tips." 

"While  you're  inside,  George,  I'll  pipe  all  the  duffers  who 
come  along,"  put  in  Farren,  who  had  strolled  up,  and  heard  the 
last  sentence  of  Bell's  speech.  "  If  they  drop  to  you,  mind,  I'll 
give  you  the  go-by." 

"  That's  proper ;  all  you  have  to  do  if  I  make  a  break  for  the 
outside  is  not  to  let  them  turn  me  up  if  you  can  help  it."  To- 
gether they  went, — the  one  to  his  prey,  his  partner  to  lounge 
around  the  building  entrance  in  wait  for  any  indication  of  police 
interference. 

The  hands  of  the  big  clock  on  the  City  Hall  wanted  a  few 
minutes  before  striking  off  the  three  taps  of  the  bell  that  were  to 
notify  the  oflScials  of  the  Merchants'  National  bank  that  public 
transactions  for  the  day  were  ended,  when  the  figure  of  a  tall 
young  man,  with  hollow  cheeks  and  cleanly  shaven  face  broke  the 


448  OUR  POLICE. 

sunlight  in  the  Second  street  entrance.  He  walked  straight  to 
the  "window  of  paying-teller  Thomas  H.  Morris,  and  with  an  ex- 
pression of  having  escaped  disappointment,  exclaimed  as  he  de- 
'posited  his  check  on  the  desk,  "  I  am  a  little  late." 

*' Yes,  you  are  late,"  the  teller  replied  as  he  noticed  what  a 
handsome  man  his  vis-a-vis  was,  in  his  Prince  Albert  coat  and 
silk  hat.  "  I  have  sold  some  bonds  to  Mr.  Fisher,"  Bell  con- 
tinued, "and  I  would  be  thankful  if  you  would  give  me  large 
money  for  this  check,  as  I  have  some  bills  to  pay  up  street." 

"  I  have  no  large  money,"  Teller  Morris  explained  during  his 
scrutiny  of  the  check,  "  the  best  I  can  do  will  be  to  give  you  ten 
dollar  notes." 

"  That  will  do,  then,  thank  you,"  replied  the  swindler.  He 
received  the  money  and  was  gone. 

Emboldened  by  the  success  of  his  emissaries,  Brockway  sent  a 
messenger  for  "Wilson,  who  was  not  far  away,  ready  to  be  sum- 
moned to  do  his  part.     The  latter  arrived  in  a  few  moments. 

"  Al,  go  lay  down  this  billet  on  the  Third  National !"  ordered 
the  arch  conspirator.  "  I  think  we  can  take  another  trick  there. 
Work  it  quick,  as  it  is  after  banking  time.  If  you  can  get  in  on 
the  'jays'  you'll  win,  for  they'll  not  'rap'  to  you,  they  will  be  so 
busy  fixing  accounts  for  the  day."  The  "pigeon"  flew  at  once 
to  his  destination,  and  reached  it  at  3.05  o'clock,  with  a  forged 
check  to  the  amount  of  $1,296.50,  payable  to  Henry  Murdock, 
from  Middendorf  &  Oliver.  The  doors  were  about  being  closed. 
The  following  conversation  took  place,  opened  by  Wilson  as  soon 
as  he  dropped  the  check  into  Teller  Medairy's  palm  : 

"  Can  I  reach  the  First  National  bank  ?  I  want  to  deposit 
some  money  there." 

"I  would  rather  not  cash  this.  My  books  are  closed  for 
to-day.     I  will  certify  it  though,  so  you  can  deposit  it." 

"  That  will  not  do.  I  need  a  portion  of  the  money  this  after- 
noon." Upon  this  statement,  the  teller,  believing  he  recognized 
Wilson  as  a  man  who  had  had  a  check  honored  some  time  pre- 
viously from  Middendorf  &  Oliver,  passed  over  the  amount. 
Two  hours  later  he  unearthed  a  discrepancy  in  his  ledger  that  he 
was  positive  came  from  his  giving  too  much  money  to  the  last 


OUR    POLICE. 


449 


caller.  To  save  himself  from  the  loss  he  slipped  into  his  coat 
and  hurried  to  the  office  of  Middendorf  &  Oliver,  to  find  the 
address  of  the  man  to  whom  they  gave  their  check  for  §1,296.60. 
His  inquiry  was  answered  by  the  horrifying  announcement  that 
the  firm  knew  no  such  man,  nor  did  they  give  any  checks  for 
such  sums  as  Cleary  and  Wilson  presented  that  day.  The  news  of 
the  forgeries  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  Mr.  Medairy,  who  was 
crestfallen,  as  any  first  class  teller  would  be  who  had  been  out- 
witted by  clever  rascals,  that  he  had  not  the  heart  to  make 
known  the  raid  that  night  to  any  of  the  higher  officials  of  the 
bank. 

That  night  the  gang  gloated  over  their  pickings.  Instead  of 
being  satisfied  they  decided  to  remain  in  Baltimore  until  tfhe  next 
morning,  Saturday,  July  17,  when  they  would  resume  their 
plundering.  The  members  separated,  each  to  find  lodgings  for 
himself.  Sleep  did  not  come  to  the  eyes  of  Brockway  until  he 
had  in  readiness  a  second  check  in  the  name  of  Mr.  Fisher,  signed 
and  indorsed  by  II.  A.  Orrick,  for  $3,901.50,  that  he  intended 
Bell  should  pass  on  the  Merchants*  National  the  following  day, 
and  one  of  $2,160  for  Wilson  to  "lay  down.*' 

When  the  morning  came  the  forger  and  his  men  emerged  from 
their  hiding  places.  As  the  needle  to  the  pole,  so  they  sought 
him.  Quick  and  concise  were  the  orders  for  duty.  Bell,  it  was 
settled,  should  tackle  the  Merchants'  National  again  and  Bartlett, 
who  had  been  kept  in  the  background,  was  sent  to  the  office  of 
D.  Fahnestock  &  Co.,  to  sell  a  $100  United  States  Government 
bond,  and  ask  for  a  check  and  cash  in  payment,  as  had  been  done 
the  day  before  with  the  other  two  brokers  whoso  names  were 
played  upon.  As  soon  as  the  order  on  the  bank  where  the  firm 
deposited,  the  Western  National,  on  Eutaw  street,  was  secured 
it  was  to  be  carried  to  Brockway  to  forge  the  signature  and  check 
numbers  of  the  Messrs.  Fahnestock  to  one  of  the  engraved  dupli- 
cates he  had  prepared  from  the  copy  got  in  June. 

Meanwhile  Wilson  visited  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  and 
got  $2,160  for  his  bogus  check.  lie  attacked  the  bank  in  the 
busiest  moment  of  the  day,  and  hid  little  diSculty  in  getting  the 
check  cashed. 


450  OUR   POLICE. 

Bartlett  returned  in  a  short  time  with  the  check  from  the 
Messrs.  Fahnestock.  With  his  usual  facility  Brockway  had  his 
work  done  by  the  time  Bartlett  had  made  his  second  visit  to  the 
Messrs.  Fahnestock  and  bought  back  with  bank  notes  entirely 
the  bond  he  had  so  shortly  before  sold  them.  Nothing  remained 
now  to  reach  the  climax  but  a  trip  to  the  Western  National  Bank, 
and  this  Bartlett  undertook.  He  tendered  a  check  for  $2,670  to 
paying  teller  Charles  Nolting,  who  refused  to  credit  it,  since  the 
bearer  was  unknown  to  him.  The  reply  came  handy ;  Bartlett 
would  have  the  Messrs.  Fahnestock  endorse  it.  Off  he  went  to 
Brockway  to  have  the  accepted  move  made.  In  the  lapse  of  as 
many  minutes  as  it  would  consume  to  walk  at  a  fair  gait  from 
Second  and  South  streets  to  Baltimore  and  Eutaw  streets,  Bart- 
lett was  before  Mr.  Nolting  again  with  the  endorsed  check.  The 
teller,  however,  was  obdurate.  He  said  he  never  paid  money 
orders,  even  when  properly  indorsed,  unless  he  knew  those  who 
presented  them,  and  he  saw  no  reason  now  to  alter  this  rule. 
Nothing  was  left  for  Bartlett  but  to  abandon  his  scheme,  and  in 
this  way  his  gang  was  shut  out  from  the  perpetration  of  any  of 
their  tricks  on  that  bank.  Undaunted  by  the  failure  of  one  of 
his  projects,  Brockway  caused  the  gang  to  know  he  would  make 
a  final  effort  with  his  consummate  skill,  and,  win  or  lose,  the 
*'  mob"  would  leave  the  town  after  it.  The  daring  of  Bell  and 
his  keen-witted  style  made  him  a  favorite  with  "  the  boss."  Once 
more  he  was  selected  to  make  the  final  coup.  When  he  got 
through  with  it  he  was  $3,901.50  ahead.  At  eleven  o'clock 
promptly,  as  the  merchants,  contractors,  brokers,  and  the  hun- 
dred-and-one  other  kinds  of  depositors  who  daily  seek,  in  the  rush 
of  business  hours,  the  accommodation  of  the  Merchants'  National 
Bank,  were  moving  to  and  fro,  giving  the  ordinary  observer 
a  kaleidoscopic  view  of  restless,  bustling,  solicitous  humanity, 
the  man  of  the  day  before  elbowed  his  way  to  the  wire  opening 
behind  which  teller  Morris  was  again  employed  and  spoke  to  him 
thus: 

"  I  am  not  late  to-day." 

**  No ;  you  are  not  late  to-day,"  with  emphasis  on  the  last  word 
by  the  teller. 


OUR    POLICE.  451 

"  I  sold  some  bonds  to  Mr.  Fisher  this  morning.  Will  you 
please  give  me  large  money  ?" 

This  time  he  obtained  it,  for  the  check  complied  in  every  detail 
with  similar  requisitions  from  the  office  of  J.  Harmanus  Fisher. 
In  fact  it  was  such  a  good  imitation  that  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Fisher's, 
Mr.  F.  Samuel  McMurran,  who  was  behind  the  desk  that  divides 
the  bank  employes  from  visitors,  a  distance  of  not  more  than 
four  feet,  nodded  his  head  in  the  affirmative  when  the  teller  held 
up  the  check  to  his  gaze  for  his  opinion  as  to  its  genuineness. 
Bell  vanished  and  with  him  the  bank's  money. 

A  lull  in  business  and  Mr.  Morris  looked  over  his  checks. 
Words  are  inadequate  to  express  his  feelings  when,  on  comparing 
the  checks  of  Mr.  Fisher,  presented  by  the  strangers  with  others 
that  were  received,  he  first  discovered  the  forgery.  Nervously 
the  deceived  teller  reported  the  facts  to  the  cashier.  Major  Doug- 
las H.  Thomas,  who  is  now  president  of  the  bank.  The  intro- 
duction to  the  affair  then  given  to  Major  Thomas  was  the  source 
of  his  subsequent  brilliant  action,  which  enabled  the  police  to 
bring  the  criminals  to  justice.  The  hands  that  linked  the  chain 
of  evidence  around  the  men  whom  the  penitentiary  bars  after- 
wards enclosed  were  those  of  Cashier  Thomas,  and  to  him  the 
banking  interests  of  America  are  indebted  for  a  display  of  pluck 
and  brains  that  rid  the  community  of  the  most  dangerous  organ- 
ization of  forgers  known  in  the  criminal  annals  of  the  country. 

The  hue  and  cry  went  abroad  that  afternoon  of  Saturday,  July 
17,  1880,  that  forgers  were  in  town.  The  alarm  was  sounded 
too  late,  for  they  had  decamped.  No  possibility  of  surprising 
them  by  arrest  in  this  city  was  held  up  to  hope.  Only  patient 
strategetic  agencies  were  remaining  if  their  apprehension  was 
ever  to  be  accomplished.  Major  Thomas  informed  the  police  at 
once.  From  headquarters  to  the  bank  came  Detective  Joseph 
Mitchell  in  obedience  to  instructions  from  the  then  Chief  of  Detec- 
tives Crone.  To  him  was  recited  in  detail  the  doings  of  the  forger 
and  a  description  of  his  appearance  as  well  as  teller  Morris  could 
remember  it.  The  data  were  carried  back  to  police  headquarters 
and  entered  on  the  blotter  of  the  department.  Every  officer  in 
citizen's  dress  was  ordered  out  to  scour  the  town,  and  no  stone 


452  OUR   POLICE. 

was  left  unturned.  For  two  days  search  was  unavailing  save  for 
the  discover/  of  the  fact  that  an  unsuccessful  attempt  had  been 
made  to  utter  forged  paper  on  the  Western  National  Bank.  Mr. 
Nolting,  the  paying  teller,  though  sure  he  had  done  right  in  re- 
fusing to  pay  over  the  amount  of  the  Fahnestock  check,  felt 
annoyed  for  the  sake  of  the  Messrs.  Fahnestock,  whom  he  thought 
might  be  aggrieved  at  his  not  honoring  the  order  their  supposed 
customer  presented,  visited  the  residence  of  the  senior  member  of 
the  firm  Sunday  morning  to  explain  matters  to  him.  IIo  was 
overjoyed  to  know  the  man  he  had  repulsed  was  an  impostor. 
Everybody  concerned  was  at  sea  until  the  mail  of  Monday  morn- 
ing, July  19,  brought  to  Major  Thomas  an  anonymous  letter, 
postmarked  Philadelphia,  wherein  it  was  stated  that  George  Bell 
and  Henry  Cleary  had  been  implicated  in  the  thievery.  This 
communication  the  cashier  forwarded  to  Chief  Detective  Crone, 
and  waited  a  few  days  to  see  the  results  it  would  stir  to  the  sur- 
face. But  the  police  could  not  use  the  clue.  Major  Thomas 
then  began  the  conduct  of  the  case  himself,  and  he  did  not  cease 
his  labors  until  he  had  put  the  convict's  uniform  on  several  of 
those  implicated.  The  board  of  directors  authorized  him  to  take 
charge  of  the  case  for  the  bank,  and  to  leave  no  stone  unturned 
to  bring  the  criminals  to  justice,  and  to  entertain  no  propositions 
of  a  compromise.  With  marked  intelligence  did  he  pursue  the 
clue  of  his  unknown  correspondent,  until  Saturday,  July  24,  he 
took  the  train  for  New  York,  having  positive  information  regard- 
ing the  descriptions  of  the  men  he  was  following  and  the  haunts 
they  frequented  in  that  city.  Landed  in  the  metropolis  he 
jumped  into  a  carriage  and  was  driven  at  once  to  the  oJicc  of 
Inspector  Thomas  Byrnes.  The  latter  was  absent  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Baltimore  bank  official.  Mr.  Thomas  left  hi«  card  for  the 
noted  detective,  and  made  an  engagement  to  meet  him  on  Mon- 
day morning,  July  26,  at  the  Brevoort  House.  At  the  appointed 
hour  the  inspector  was  with  Major  Thomas.  The  )attcr  detailed 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  forgeries,  not  mc/idoni/^g  at  that 
time  his  own  detective  work,  however. 

Inspector  Byrnes  believed  he  recognized  the  ^1  piuted  forgers  by 
their  methods.     His  assurances  were  of  so  enconragiL^  a  charac- 


OUR  POLICE.  453 

ter  that  Major  Thomas  telegraphed  to  Mr.  A.  H.  Stump,  then 
president  of  the  Merchants'  National  Bank :  "  Send  Morris, 
Medairj,  and  McMurran,"  that  he  might  be  in  readiness  with 
his  witnesses  for  identification  when  the  arrests  were  made.  The 
very  next  daj  Detectives  Adams,  O'Neill  and  Slcvin,  of  Inspector 
Bj^rnes'  staff,  took  into  custody  Bell,  Farren,  and  Clearj.  The 
first  two  were  arrested  on  the  street,  and  the  latter  while  in  bed 
in  a  house  where  he  often  lodged.  The  capture  was  not  made  a 
day  too  soon,  since  it  was  afterwards  learned  the  trio  were  to 
leave  New  York  the  day  succeeding  that  on  which  they  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  police.  Brockway,  accompanied  by  Billy  Ogle 
and  George  Hamill,  whom  he  left  behind  for  protective  purposes 
when  he  went  to  Baltimore,  and  Al.  Wilson,  had  already 
"jumped." 

The  prisoners  were  taken  before  Justice  Duffy,  at  the  Tombs 
court,  and  given  a  preliminary  hearing.  There  was  no  charge 
that  could  be  preferred  against  Farren,  who  was  only  seen  loung- 
ing around  the  Merchants'  National  Bank,  and  he  was  discharged 
from  custody.  Cleary,  it  appeared,  was  "wanted"  in  Albany 
for  a  $1,000  forgery.  He  had  been  arrested  on  the  charge,  ad- 
mitted to  bail,  and  "  skipped."  The  New  York  authorities  urged 
priority  on  this  score,  and  demanded  his  custody.  The  claim 
was  upheld  by  Governor  Cornell  of  that  State,  who  subsequently 
refused  to  issue  requisition  papers  for  Cleary  until  he  had  been 
arraigned  in  Albany  for  the  offence  alleged.  He  was  escorted 
thither,  tried,  and  sentenced  to  two  years  and  six  months  im- 
prisonment at  Clinton.  Bell  doggedly  denied  his  identity,  but 
in  vain.  He  was  picked  out  from  among  a  crowd  of  other  men 
by  Teller  Morris. 

Satisfaction  it  was,  in  a  measure,  to  Major  Thomas,  to  have 
this  one  of  the  gang,  and  for  fear  any  mishap  should  prevent  the 
ends  of  Maryland  justice  being  satisfied,  at  least  in  this  instance, 
the  major  came  to  Baltimore,  swore  out  a  warrant  on  July  28? 
before  Justice  John  P.  Grindall,  at  the  Central  Police  Station, 
accusing  Bell  of  uttering  forged  checks  to  the  amount  received  by 
him  from  the  Merchants'  Bank.  He  then  went  to  the  office  of 
State's  Attorney  Charles  P.  Kerr,  whose  co-operation  he  asked 


454  OUR  POLICE. 

to  have  a  requisition  issued  by  Governor  William  T.  Hamilton 
for  Bell.  The  attorney  for  the  Commonwealth  gladly  gave  his 
aid.  To  obviate  a  hitch  in  another  direction,  Major  Thomas 
telegraphed  Mr.  Morris  to  start  for  home  in  time  to  appear  before 
the  Grand  Jury  of  Baltimore  on  July  81,  the  first  and  only 
session  the  inquest  held  that  week.  On  the  strength  of  the  tel- 
ler's testimony,  an  indictment  against  Bell  was  found  that  day. 
Twenty-four  hours  later  the  requisition  from  Governor  Hamilton 
was  received  by  Deputy-marshal  Jacob  Frey,  who  was  com- 
missioned to  carry  it  to  the  Governor  of  New  York.  The  deputy- 
marshal  departed,  and  on  August  2  was  at  the  capital  of  New 
York.  To  his  disappointment  he  was  told  Governor  Cornell 
would  not  be  at  his  mansion  for  several  days,  having  gone  to  an- 
other section  of  the  State.  A  question  of  convenience  was  not 
to  be  entertained,  therefore  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  wait, 
which  the  Baltimore  officer  did,  at  Albany,  until  the  Governor  of 
New  York  returned.  After  that  there  was  little  or  no  delay  to 
the  production  of  the  warrant  for  Bell. 

A  new  impediment  to  the  progress  of  the  case  was  encountered 
when  the  deputy  marshal  went  to  New  York  with  the  requisite 
documents  to  take  Bell  from  the  Tombs.  The  forger  had  engaged 
counsel  through  friends  and  was  an  applicant  for  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  The  right  of  the  prisoner  to  a  full  hearing  on  the  tech- 
nicalities he  wished  to  present  was  recognized  by  Judge  Beach, 
of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court.  For  three  weary  weeks  the 
conflict  went  on,  with  intervals  of  adjournment,  until  on  August 
18,  the  Court,  after  having  heard  the  testimony  of  Major  Thomas, 
Teller  Morris,  and  Deputy-marshal  Frey,  the  arguments  of  coun- 
sel for  the  defence,  Messrs.  E.  E.  Price  and  James  Oliver,  and 
for  the  prosecution  as  conducted  by  Hon.  A.  S.  Sullivan,  who 
was  retained  by  the  Merchants'  National  Bank,  ruled  that  the 
prisoner  be  remanded  to  the  custody  of  the  Baltimore  authorities. 
It  was  a  bitter  pill  for  Bell  to  swallow.  On  August  19,  after  a 
handcuffed  journey  from  New  York  with  Deputy-marshal  Frey, 
he  was  behind  a  Yale  lock  in  the  Central  Police  Station  in  Balti- 
more, the  ward  of  Captain  John  Lannan,  then  in  charge  of  that 
precinct.     Nor  was  the  fight  to  end  here.     In  anticipation  of 


OUR   POLICE.  455 

such  a  procedure  W.  HoUingsworth  Whyte,  Esq.,  appeared 
in  the  Circuit  Court  and  asked  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  police 
from  taking  Bell's  photograph.  The  appeal  fell  flat,  and  its  use- 
fulness, if  it  had  any,  was  annihilated  hy  the  statement  of  Deputy- 
Marshal  Frey,  that  all  the  likenesses  of  Bell  the  Baltimore  police 
wanted  had  been  obtained  from  another  city. 

The  trial  of  Bell  before  Judge  Pinkney  in  the  Criminal  Court 
was  a  memorable  one.  Mr.  Whyte,  a  nephew  of  the  presiding 
magistrate,  again  represented  Bell,  while  Hon.  A.  Leo  Knott, 
engaged  by  Major  Thomas,  assisted  the  State.  The  question  of 
identity  was  once  more  the  main  point,  and  in  so  confused  a  con- 
dition did  it  reach  the  jury  because  of  the  rulings  of  the  judge, 
that  the  twelve  men  empanelled  failed  to  agree  after  a  night's 
deliberation.  The  Court  was  highly  displeased  with  one  juror, 
Mr.  C.  Edwin  Stine,  on  hearing  after  the  case  had  been  aban- 
doned by  the  State,  that  he  of  all  the  jury  had  stood  alone  for 
conviction.  To  add  to  the  irate  feelings  of  the  judge,  prisoner's 
counsel,  Mr.  Whyte,  stated  in  open  Court  it  was  rumored  that 
the  complaint  of  sickness  advanced  by  Mr.  Stine,  which  led  to 
the  discharge  of  the  jury,  was  feigned.  Swollen  with  anger, 
Judge  Pinkney  referred  the  case  of  Mr.  Stine  to  the  Grand  Jury. 
A  careful  investigation  showed  that  Mr.  Stine  had  really  been  ill, 
and  he  was  exonerated.  A  second  trial  resulted  in  an  acquittal 
for  Bell  on  one  charge.  By  this  time  the  merchants  and  bankers 
of  the  city  were  highly  indignant  at  the  form  things  assumed. 
Danger  lay  ahead  that  the  forger  would  escape  his  merited 
punishment  on  the  second  charge;  but  a  single  way  was  at  hand 
to  avert  it ;  to  have  the  case  removed  on  the  grounds  that  the 
State  could  not  obtain  the  fullest  justice  in  the  Criminal  Court  of 
Baltimore.  Judge  Brown,  in  the  Circuit  Court,  accepted  this 
reasoning  of  State's  Attorney  Kerr,  and  ordered  a  change  of 
venue  to  4;he  Circuit  Court  of  Howard  County. 

Where  were  Brockway  and  the  others  all  the  while  ?  They  were 
in  prison,  too,  with  the  exception  of  Farren.  Funds  were  so  low 
they  could  not  much  longer  continue  the  legal  sympathy  they 
owed  Bell  unless  they  forged  for  lawyers'  fees.  A  better  place 
than  Providence,  R.  I.,  the  remnant  knew  not,  hence  it  was  they 


456  OUR   POLICE. 

"  braced  *'  two  of  its  banks  after  their  Baltimore  style,  and  got 
themselves,  the  very  day  Bell  was  in  the  Central  station  in  this 
city,  into  a  similar  lock-up  in  Providence.  Brockway  went  to  the 
penitentiary  hv  eight  years,  Ogle  for  four  years,  Hamill  for  three 
years,  and  ''Al"  Wilson  escaped  from  the  police.  His  hurry  was 
80  great,  let  it  be  remarked,  he  never  stopped  short  of  Boston. 
The  situation  was  not  congenial  in  the  cultured  centre ;  Canada 
was  more  to  his  fancy.  Even  there  he  fared  badly,  and  was 
locked  up  for  a  misdemeanor,  which  punishment  begat  in  him  a 
feeling  of  home-sickness  that  drove  him  back  to  New  York  on 
October  18,  1881.  The  lynx-eyed  thief-takers  of  Inspector 
Byrnes  were  at  his  heels,  and  nabbed  him  in  a  few  days.  Philo- 
sophically he  took  his  arrest,  and  to  be  accommodating  as  possi- 
ble, consented  to  go  to  Baltimore  without  a  requisition.  He  knew 
he  would  be  convicted  if  he  stood  trial,  so  ho  pleaded  guilty  to 
the  charges  against  him,  and  was  sentenced  for  four  years.  At 
the  trial  of  Bell  in  the  courthouse  at  Ellicott  City,  Howard 
County,  Judges  Miller,  Hayden,  and  Hammond  on  the  bench, 
on  the  second  charge  against  him,  Wilson  was  present  in  his  con- 
vict's garb  and  shorn  head,  a  striking  contrast  to  his  elegantly 
robed  accomplice,  in  seal  trimmed  overcoat,  handsome  black  suit, 
and  the  seal-skin  cap,  at  that  period  highly  fashionable.  For  two 
days,  hundreds  of  men  from  Baltimore  and  the  country  surround- 
ing listened  to  the  evidence.  Fifteen  minutes  was  all  the  time 
the  country  jury  were  out  before  they  returned  a  verdict  of 
"guilty!'*  Bell  did  not  move  a  muscle,  but  sat  upright,  as  he 
had  done  all  along,  with  a  serene  expression  of  countenance. 
A  low  bow  to  the  judges,  and  he  started  for  the  county  jail  to 
await  sentence,  which  was  not  passed  on  him  until  July  9,  1881. 
On  that  day  he  was  brought  before  Judge  Miller.  When  asked 
if  he  had  anythmg  to  say  why  sentence  should  not  be  passed 
upon  him.  Bell  accepted  the  invitation,  arose  in  the  dock  and 
said  to  the  Court,  "  I  was  unfortunate  at  my  trial  in  not  establish- 
ing my  innocence,  as  I  confidently  expected  to,  but  the  parties 
who  were  implicated  refused  to  testify.  I  expect  in  a  short  time 
to  prove  my  entire  innocence.  I  have  nothing  to  say  againgt 
the  rulings  of  this  Court  or  the  verdict  of  the  jury.     I  only  say 


OUR   POLICE.  467 

now  I  am  not  guilty  of  the  charge,  and  appeal  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Court." 

**  Yours  has  been  one  of  the  most  aggravated  cases  against  the 
law,"  replied  Judge  Miller,  "  that  has  ever  occurred  in  Maryland. 
I  will  have  to  pronounce  on  you  the  sentence  agreed  upon  by  my 
colleagues  and  myself:  ten  years  imprisonment  in  the  Maryland 
Penitentiary,  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  in  such  cases  as 
yours." 

A  visitor  to  the  prison  of  this  State,  the  day  following  the 
expression  of  the  sentence  could  barely  recognize  gentlemanly 
George  Bell  in  the  tall  fellow  with  a  big  black  barred  suit  and 
his  penitentiary  Cropped  hair  as  he  engineered  a  lathe  for  bur- 
nishing the  heels  of  ladies*  shoes.  As  for  "Al "  Wilson,  a  steadier 
mechanic,  impromptu,  if  you  please,  never  sprung  a  bobbin  in  a 
carpet  shop  than  he.  Juvenal,  wise  old  student  of  human  nature 
knew  whereof  he  spoke  when  he  created  the  truism:  "First 
appearances  deceive  many.  The  mind  seldom  perceives  what  has 
been  carefully  hidden." 

But  hold !  the  curtain  drops  not  here,  for  Cleary  is  not  yet  in 
the  Maryland  Penitentiary,  and  Major  Thomas  believed  he  should 
be,  and  so  he  will,  for  the  unfaltering  cashier  will  not  abate  a  jot 
his  vigilance.  He  knows  that  on  November  23,  1882,  the  sen- 
tence of  Cleary  will  expire  at  Clinton  Prison.  Long  before  that 
is  he  in  communication  with  Governor  Cornell,  who  agrees  to 
yield  up  the  culprit  on  the  proper  day.  Its  arrival  finds  Deputy- 
Marshal  Frey  outside  the  gates  of  the  institution,  a  requisition  in 
his  hand  and  a  pair  of  handcuffs  in  his  pocket.  They  are  for  the 
released  prisoner  who  steps  from  technical  liberty  to  practical 
imprisonment.  Two  months  in  the  jail  of  Baltimore  city  the 
forger  rests  prior  to  his  arraignment  in  the  same  pen  once  orna- 
mented by  his  incarcerated  brethren.  Fatigue  had  broken  him 
down  to  such  an  extent  that  jail  physician  Dr.  D.  P.  Hoffman 
certified  that  he  was  suffering  from  consumption.  The  counsel 
for  the  prisoner.  Col.  Charles  Marshall,  announced  that  his  client 
desired  to  plead  guilty.  Judge  Phelps,  on  January  18,  1883, 
sentenced  him  to  five  years  of  penal  servitude. 


458  OUR  POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

BROCKWAT'S  plan  to  defraud  providence  banks. — ULRICH 
AGREES  TO  FORGE  THE  CHECKS. — PLAN  ARRANGED  TO  DETECT 
THE  FORGERS. — THEIR  VISITS  TO  HENRY  C.  CRANSTON  AND 
CHACB,  WATSON  &  BUTTS. — PROVIDENCE  DETECTIVES  ON  THE 
QUI  VIVE. — "  IS  YOUR  NAME  JOSEPH  COOK?" — PARKER  TAKES 
HIS   MAN  AT  THE   FOURTH  NATIONAL. — BROOKWAY  ARRESTED. 

— HE   THOUGHT   THERE   MUST  BE  SOME   MISTAKE SO  THERE 

WAS. — A  RACE  IN  THE   HEART  OF  THE  CITY. — CAGED  AT  LAST. 

It  was  about  the  beginning  of  August,  1880,  that  Brockway, 
baffled  in  Baltimore,  laid  his  plans  to  defraud  certain  banks  in 
Providence.  Charles  Ulrich,  a  notorious  counterfeiter,  had 
shortly  before  been  pardoned  from  the  New  Jersey  State  Prison, 
on  his  pledge,  which  he  was  evidently  sincere  in  giving,  that  he 
would  lead  an  honest  life,  and  withhold  from  crime  in  the  future. 
To  this  man  Brockway  resorted,  unaware  of  his  new  resolution, 
or  if  he  was  aware  of  it,  not  believing  that  it  had  outlasted  the 
opening  of  the  prison  doors.  He  asked  Ulrich,  who  was  an  ex- 
pert engraver,  to  counterfeit  some  blank  checks  for  Lim.  Ulrich, 
before  consenting,  communicated  the  request  to  Pinkerton's  De- 
tective agency,  being  under  obligation  to  the  Pinkertons  for 
aiding  in  his  release.  They  advised  Ulrich  to  take  the  job,  but 
with  such  precautions  that  the  intended  victims  would  be  saved 
from  loss,  and  the  capture  of  Brockway  and  his  associates  in 
crime  secured.     . 

Brockway  had  as  partners  in  the  scheme  Billy  Ogle  and 
Charles  Somers,  and  the  private  banking  houses  of  Henry  C. 
Cranston  and  of  Chace,  Watson  &  Butts  were  selected  as  the 
places  where  the  checks,  to  be  used  in  the  operation,  should  be 
obtained.  Two  government  bonds  of  $100  each  were  sold  to  the 
two  banking  houses,  Brockway  obtaining  from  them  their  printed 
checks,  on  the  face  of  which  appeared  in  printed  form  the  firm 


OUR   POLICE. 


459 


name.  These  checks  were  obtained  ostensibly  for  mailing,  but 
were,  of  course,  intended  by  Brockway  to  be  used  in  the  plan  to 
defraud  the  banks.  The  check  obtained  from  Mr.  Cranston  was 
on  the  Old  National,  and  the  check  obtained  from  Chace,  Watson 
&  Butts,  on  the  Fourth  National  Bank.  These  checks  were  de- 
livered by  Brockway  to  Ulrich,  the  engraver,  with  instructions 
to  make  copper-plate  copies  of  them,  even  to  the  government 
stamps.  Ulrich,  upon  receiving  the  checks,  forthwith  informed 
the  Pinkertons,  and  arranged  w\th  them  that  he  should  apparently 
make  true  fac-simile  copies,  but  that  in  reality  he  should  put 
private  marks  on  both  blanks,  in  such  a  way  that  persons  not  in 
the  secret  could  not  detect  them,  while  at  the  same  time  readily 
perceived  by  persons  on  the  lookout  for  the  forgeries.  The  work 
was  done  according  to  the  plan.  The  genuine  check  blanks  had 
lines  ruled  on  the  top,  bottom,  and  sides,  close  to  the  margin,  and 
were  joined  together  so  as  to  make  an  unbroken  line.  In  the 
lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  counterfeit  blanks  the  lines  were 
purposely  prolonged,  so  as  to  cross  each  other,  and  extend  about 
a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  beyond  the  true  lines.  In  addition,  the 
engraver  purposely  mis-spelled  the  name  of  the  firm  who  appeared 
in  small  letters  as  printers  of  the  check,  so  as  to  read  ''  Bugbee 
&  Kolly,"  instead  of  "Bugbee  &  Kelly."  The  counterfeits 
having  been  stricken  off,  were  delivered  to  Brockway. 

Meantime  the  Pinkertons  notified  Chief  Hunt,  of  the  Provi- 
dence police,  and  the  latter  made  preparations  to  give  Mr.  Brock- 
way and  his  confreres  more  hospitality  than  they  bargained  for. 
Detectives  Swan  and  Waldron  were  stationed  in  the  Old  National 
Bank,  and  Detective  Parker  and  Officer  Simonds  in  the  Fourth 
National  Bank.  A  string  was  carried  from  the  cashier's  desk, 
close  to  the  floor,  and  into  the  directors'  room,  where  the  officers 
were  concealed.  This  string,  if  stepped  upon,  was  made  taut, 
and  pulled  hard  on  the  farther  end.  Detective  Gaylor,  of  Pin- 
kerton's  force,  was  in  the  city  to  watch  developments  and  aid  the 
Providence  officers.  For  nearly  a  week  the  officers  waited,  day 
after  day ;  but  nothing  was  seen  of  Brockway  or  his  accomplices. 
On  Saturday  afternoon,  August  14th,  Brockway  was  seen  near 
Mr.  Cranston's  banking  house,  and  there  one  of  his  associates 


460  OUR   POLICE. 

soon  joined  him.  Their  presence  indicated  the  fact  that  their 
business,  although  not  their  stay,  in  Rhode  Island  was  drawing 
to  a  close.  Again  a  $100  government  bond  was  sold  at  Mr. 
Cranston's,  and  another  $100  bond  to  Chace,  Watson  &  Butts, 
and  at  a  late  hour  of  the  day.  There  was  method  in  the  trans- 
action, for  Brockway  and  his  accomplices  wanted  to  get  as  near 
the  last  numbers  drawn  from  the  check-books  as  possible. 

Having  obtained  perhaps  the  last  numbers  given  on  that  Sat- 
urday, Brockway  had  all  day  Sunday  in  which  to  forge  the 
signatures  of  the  two  banking  houses,  and  to  prepare  the  coun- 
terfeit checks  in  such  a  way  as  to  stand  critical  examination, 
such  as  the  tellers  and  cashiers  of  banks  might  be  expected  to 
give,  especially  when  a  large  amount  of  money  is  called  for  by  a 
stranger.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  stamp  on  numbers  which 
would  approximate  those  on  the  last  checks  drawn  on  Saturday. 
This  approximation  was  necessary,  as  the  false  checks  were  to 
be  presented  at  banks  with  which  the  customers  of  both  the 
banking  houses  were  accustomed  to  deal. 

Monday  morning  came,  with  the  detectives  on  the  "  qui  vive  '* 
for  their  quarry.  About  half  past  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon, 
a  stranger  presented  one  of  the  counterfeit  checks,  purporting 
to  be  signed  by  Chace,  Watson  &  Butts,  at  the  Fourth  National 
Bank.  It  was  for  the  sum  of  $1,327,  and  payable  to  Joseph 
Cook.  Detective  Parker  stepped  up  close  to  the  visitor  with 
another  check  in  his  hand,  as  if  he,  too,  was  waiting  to  receive 
some  money.  This  gave  Mr.  Parker  a  pretense  for  keeping  near 
the  man,  without  arousing  suspicion.  "  Is  your  name  Joseph 
Cook?"  asked  the  teller.  "Yes,"  was  the  ready  answer;  and 
the  teller  at  once  counted  out  $1,327  to  the  pretended  customer. 
"  Cook  "  was  putting  the  money  in  his  pocket  when  Detective 
Parker  quietly  put  his  hand  on  him,  and,  before  the  latter  could 
realize  the  situation,  he  was  a  prisoner,  and  the  detective  had 
the  money.  Mr,  Gaylor,  the  Pinkerton  detective,  was  at  once 
notified  by  officer  Simonds,  and  hastened  towards  the  scene. 
He  identified  Brockway  standing  outside  the  bank,  evidently 
waiting  for  "  Cook  "  to  come  out  with  the  money.  Mr.  Gaylor 
delayed  action  for  several  minutes,  in  order  to  give  the  forgers 


OUR    POLICE.  461 

an  opportunity  to  strike  at  the  Old  National  Bank,  and  be  taken 
in  there,  as  at  the  Fourth  National.  But  Brockway  at  length 
became  uneasy,  and  showed  signs  of  departure ;  so  the  detective 
took  him  in  charge.  Brockway  seemed  surprised,  but  merely 
remarked  that  there  must  be  some  mistake.  He  was  escorted 
into  the  bank,  and  handcuffed  to  his  accomplice.  Then  they 
were  taken  to  the  City  Hall  and  locked  up.  No  other  checks 
were  found  on  them.  All  this  had  been  done  so  quietly  that  the 
other  accomplice  was  evidently  not  alarmed. 

About  half  past  twelve  o'clock  on  the  same  day,  a  stranger 
appeared  at  the  counter  of  the  Old  National  Bank  and  presented 
a  check  for  $1,264,  drawn  in  favor  of  James  Chace,  and  signed 
*'  H.  C.  Cranston."  The  cashier  told  the  man  that  he  must  get 
the  check  certified,  and  the  visitor  started  out,  ostensibly  for 
that  purpose.  The  cashier  followed  him  out,  and  met  Mr.  Gay- 
lor  coming  up  the  stairs.  Gaylor  spoke  to  the  man  with  the 
check,  and  the  latter  started  to  run.  Officer  Vaughn  joined  in 
the  chase,  and  caught  the  fugitive  near  the  Crawford  street  bridge. 
Upon  being  searched,  a  certified  check,  precisely  like  the  one  he 
bad  presented,  was  found  in  his  stocking.  It  was  supposed  that 
he  intended  to  be  absent  from  the  bank  long  enough  to  have  a 
check  certified,  and  then  return  with  the  forged  certificate. 

Brockway,  when  arrested,  tried  to  swallow  a  paper  containing 
the  name  of  a  business  firm  near  the  Fourth  National  Bank, 
which  he  had  probably  intended  to  use  in  future  operations. 
Brockway  was  sent  to  State  Prison  for  eight  years,  and  his  two 
associates,  who  proved  to  be  George  Hamill  or  Harvell,  and 
William  Ogle,  were  sentenced  for  three  years  and  four  years, 
respectively. 

The  checks  used  by  Brockway  in  the  attempt  on  the  Providence 
banks  are  still  in  possession  of  the  Police  Department  of  this 
city.  To  the  uninstructed  observer  the  counterfeiting  seems  per- 
fect, and  the  writer,  when  the  two  were  submitted  to  him,  guessed 
the  counterfeit  to  be  the  genuine.  Ulrich,  the  engraver,  who 
aided  in  the  conviction  of  the  forgers,  is  said  to  be  now  in 
Europe,  and  to  have  relapsed  into  evil  ways. 


462  OUR  POLICE. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

JAMES  DUNMUNWAY.  — AN  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WORST  WESTERN 
TYPE. — A  LAWYER  GO-BETWEEN  FOR  BURGLARS. — DUNMUNWAY 
ROBS  THE  ATHEN^UM.  —  OFFICER  DUTY  GREENE  DETECTS 
BURGLARS  IN  THE  STORE  OF  F.  A.  PAIGE  A  CO. — THE  PLACE 
SURROUNDED  BY  POLICE. — CAPTURE  OF  THE  ROBBERS. — THE 
MYSTERY  OF  THE  ATHEN^UM  BURGLARY  UNVEILED. — DUN- 
MUNWAY'S  distaste  for  PHOTOGRAPHY. — HIS  ASSAULT  ON  A 
FELLOW-CONVICT.  —  DOGGED  RESISTANCE  TO  PRISON  DISCIP- 
LINE.— IN  A  DARK  CELL  FOR  YEARS. — A  CALM  DEATH-BED 
SCENE.— SOME  FACTS  OF  HIS  MURDEROUS  HISTORY. — SAID  TO 
HAVE  KILLED  TWELVE  MEN. — FORTUNATE  ARREST  OF  A  NEW- 
PORT BURGLAR. 

No  more  peculiar  criminal  ever  visited  Providence  than  James 
Dunbar,  alias  James  Dunmunway.  An  outlaw  of  the  worst 
Western  type,  he  was  equally  ready  at  crimes  of  force,  and  at  the 
more  deliberate  work  of  the  midnight  prowler  and  burglar.  One 
of  the  Jesse  James  gang,  when  those  outlaws  were  the  terror  of 
the  West,  he  found  himseh  ill  able  to  cope  with  the  better  organ- 
ized police  systems  of  the  East,  and,  like  some  other  famous  law- 
•  breakers,  he  came  to  grief  and  a  cell  in  the  Rhode  Island  State 
Prison — a  cell  that  to  him  proved  a  tomb.  Shortly  before  the 
crime  which  resulted  in  his  arrest  in  Providence,  Dunmunway, 
with  two  others,  broke  into  a  bank  in  Paris,  Kentucky,  and,  as 
his  share  of  the  plunder,  Dunmunway  received  $17,500  in  rail- 
road bonds.  One  of  the  parties  to  the  robbery  was  arrested. 
Dunmunway  escaped  and  went  to  Washington,  thence  to  Balti- 
more and  New  York,  and  from  New  York  to  Providence.  Upon 
his  arrival  here  he  entrusted  the  stolen  bonds  to  a  party  in  Provi- 
dence, who  kept  them  for  hijn.  A  lawyer  of  this  city  wrote  to 
Paris,  Kentucky,  asking  what  the  bonds  were  worth.  He  ascer- 
tained that  they  were  worth  nothing,  the  Kentucky  Legislature 


OUR   POLICE.  463 

having  declared  the  stolen  securities  void  and  authorized  another 
issue. 

While  these  negotiations  were  pending  Dunmunway  did  not 
waste  his  opportunities  in  Providence.  Becoming  acquainted 
with  a  youth  of  weak  character  and  evil  habits,  he  persuaded  him 
to  join  in  a  scheme  for  the  robbery  of  the  Athenaeum,  that  valu- 
able and  estimable  library  which  is  one  of  the  landmarks  of  our 
city.  The  crime  was  committed  on  or  about  the  night  of  August 
16,  1881.  Dunmunway  and  his  associate  visited  the  library  a 
day  or  two  previous  to  the  robbery,  and  politely  asked  the  privi- 
lege of  gazing  at  its  treasures.  "  That  is  a  very  handsome  pic- 
ture," remarked  Dunmunway,  with  the  air  of  a  connoisseur,  as  he 
pointed  to  "The  Three  Graces."  "It  ought  to  be  valuable." 
The  librarian  was  proud  to  be  able  to  inform  his  respectable- 
appearing  caller  that  the  picture  was  valued  at  $3,000.  The 
visitor  evinced  considerable  interest  in  a  portrait  of  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  departed,  after  expressing  his  thanks  for  the  courtesy 
extended  and  the  pleasure  he  had  enjoyed.  A  day  or  two  later 
Providence  was  amazed  by  the  news  that  the  Athenaeum  had  been 
entered,  and  "The  Three  Graces"  and  other  valuable  canvases 
cut  from  the  frames  and  carried  off. 

Detectives  Swan  and  Parker  were  at  work  on  the  case,  with 
their  suspicions  fixed  in  the  right  direction,  when  a  fortunate 
arrest  removed  all  doubt  as  to  two  of  the  guilty,  at  least.  Officer 
Duty  Greene,  while  on  patrol  duty  on  South  Main  street,  at  the 
foot  of  College,  about  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September 
10,  1881,  heard  a  slight  noise  in  the  store  of  F.  A.  Page  &  Co., 
which  adjoins  College  street,  and  he  at  once  listened  intently. 
A  murmur  of  voices  in  the  basement  of  the  store  reached  his  ears, 
and  a  glimmer  of  light  shone  between  the  chinks  of  the  closed 
shutters.  Officer  Greene  bent  his  head  closer,  and  distinctly 
heard  a  man's  voice  saying,  '^  Hold  my  hat,  will  you  ?  Just  give 
us  a  light,  and  we  will  go  through  and  get  out  upstairs."  Officer 
Greene  blew  his  whistle  and  rapped  for  assistance.  Officer  Thur- 
ston answered,  and  was  told  to  stand  guard  over  the  cellar  door, 
where  the  light  was  first  seen.  Thick  and  fast  the  police  ap- 
peared, and  soon  about  twenty  were  on  the  spot.     Officer  Greene 


464  OUR   POLICE. 

then  telephoned  to  Lieutenant  Dary,  and  dispatched  a  man  to 
Mr.  Paige's  residence,  No.  9  Church  street.  Pending  the  arrival 
of  Mr.  Paige  his  store  and  the  rear  stores  in  the  block  were  com- 
pletely surrounded,  making  it  impossible  for  the  burglars  to 
escape.  While  the  officers  were  standing  there  the  men  were 
seen  by  some  bystanders  creeping  along  the  roof.  Soon  after 
this  a  window  was  seen  to  open,  and  a  man's  head  protruded 
through  the  aperture.  Officer  Thurston  drew  his  revolver,  and 
pointing  at  the  head,  threatened  to  shoot,  and  the  head  was 
quickly  withdrawn.  For  a  few  moments  all  was  quiet,  and  then 
a  window  on  the  Leonard  street  side  of  the  building,  in  the  rear 
of  Mr.  Page's  store,  was  heard  to  open  and  close,  and  about  the 
same  time  officer  Thurston  felt  something  strike  his  face.  He 
picked  it  up,  and  found  a  candle  broken  in  two  pieces,  which  the 
robbers  had  thrown  at  him  from  the  window.  Shortly  thereafter 
Mr.  Page  came  with  the  key,  the  door  was  unlocked,  and  the 
search  began.  Lieutenant  Dary  and  five  officers,  with  two 
enterprising  reporters,  comprised  the  searching  party.  The  store 
on  the  first  floor  was  scoured,  and  then  the  officers  proceeded  to 
the  attic,  leaving  no  nook  or  corner  unexplored.  Along  the  roof 
to  an  adjoining  building,  through  a  very  narrow  window,  and 
down  into  the  attic  of  that  building  went  the  exploring  party. 
After  bursting  open  a  door  at  the  head  of  an  entry,  the  two 
burglars  were  discovered,  crouching  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
close  to  the  street  door,  and  were  at  once  captured  and  taken  to 
the  Central  Station.  They  refused  to  give  their  names,  but  one 
proved  to  be  Dunmunway,  then  unknown  to  the  Providence 
police ;  the  other  to  be  a  young  man  of  respectable  parentage, 
but  of  weak  character  and  dissolute  habits,  whom  the  veteran 
outlaw  "was  educating  in  crime. 

Detectives  Swan  and  Parker  soon  uncovered  the  mystery  of 
the  Athenaeum  burglary,  and  recovered  the  stolen  pictures. 
They  were  able  to  prove  that  Dunmunway  and  his  youthful  ac- 
complice were  guilty  of  this  crime,  as  well  as  of  a  robbery  at  the 
residence  of  John  A.  Brown,  No.  13  Cushing  street,  on  the 
night  of  June  28,  of  the  same  year.  At  the  time  of  the  rob- 
bery of  Mr.  Brown's  residence  the  house  was  unoccupied,  Mr. 


OUR   POLICE.  465 

Brown's  family  being  away  on  a  summer  tour.  The  night  was 
stormy,  and  was  probably  selected  by  the  thieves  for  that  reason, 
there  being,  of  course,  less  danger  of  discovery  on  such  a  night 
than  in  pleasant  weather.  Dunmunway  and  his  young  companion 
went  into  the  house,  and,  according  to  the  evidence  obtained  by 
the  police,  another  person  remained  near  by  with  a  horse  and 
carriage,  to  receive  the  booty.  The  thieves  at  first  attempted  to 
enter  by  boring  through  the  door  so  as  to  gain  access  to  the  lock, 
but  it  was  an  exceptionally  secure  one,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
relinquish  this  plan.  They  then  succeeded  in  raising  a  window, 
and  carried  off  several  valuable  articles.  The  person — a  pawn- 
broker— in  charge  of  the  horse  and  carriage  met  the  robbers  at 
Prospect  Terrace,  and  there  the  plunder  was  placed  in  the  car- 
riage and  taken  to  the  residence  of  the  pawnbroker.  The  police 
soon  identified  Dunmunway  as  a  notorious  thief  and  housebreaker. 
He  had  come  to  Providence  from  New  York  in  the  spring,  with 
the  intention  of  making  this  city  a  scene  of  his  criminal  opera- 
tions. Looking  for  an  accomplice,  he  was  introduced  by  a  pawn- 
broker to  the  young  man  of  good  social  standing,  but  demoralized 
habits,  who  aided  him  in  the  robberies,  and  they  were  passing 
from  one  crime  to  another,  when  fortunately  detected  in  Page's 
store  by  officer  Duty  Greene. 

Soon  after  Dunmunway's  arrest  he  was  taken  by  Deputy  Chief 
Brown  and  Detective  Parker  to  Wright's  photograph  gallery,  on 
Westminster  street,  to  be  photographed.  A  colored  burglar 
named  John  McCarty,  was  escorted  to  the  gallery  at  the  same 
time.  Both  were  handcuffed.  Dunmunway  objected  to  having 
his  picture  taken,  and  fought  with  great  fury,  knocking  out  the 
photographer,  and  destroying  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
worth  of  property.  He  was  at  length  brought  to  terms,  without 
undue  violence  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  but  his  photograph  in 
the  "Rogues  Gallery"  shows  the  effect  of  the  struggle.  The 
photographer  was  so  disgusted  with  the  experience  that  he  re- 
quested a  discontinuance  of  police  patronage. 

Dunmunway  was  sentenced  to  seven  years  in  the  Rhode  Island 
State  Prison.  In  the  shop  with  him  in  the  prison  was  a  convict 
named  William  Wright,  alias  "  Roaring  Bill,"  the  only  prisoner 


466  OUR    POLICE. 

who  knew  the  former  history  of  Dunmunway.  The  latter  wanted 
to  put  Wright  forever  beyond  the  power  of  talking  about  him,  or 
was  jealous  of  him  for  some  other  reason.  One  day  while  they 
were  working  in  the  shoe-shop,  back  to  back,  Dunmunway  seized 
a  heavy  hammer,  jumped  upon  his  bench,  and  dealt  Wright  a 
murderous  blow  directly  on  the  head.  Dunmunway  was  over- 
powered with  difficulty,  and  put  in  a  dark  cell.  Upon  trial  for 
the  assault  on  Wright  he  pretended  to  be  insane,  but  was  found 
guilty,  and  had  two  years  added  to  his  original  sentence.  The 
police  were  of  opinion  that  the  veteran  convict  expected  to  be 
transferred  to  a  hospital  for  the  insane,  and  thence  make  his 
escape.  After  the  attack  on  his  fellow  prisoner -Dunmunway  be- 
came morose,  hateful,  and  obstinate,  and  was  placed  in  solitary 
confinement  in  a  dark  cell — that  is,  a  cell  on  the  lower  or  ground 
tier  of  the  prison,  from  which  no  view  can  be  had  through  the 
windows  of  the  building.  There  he  remained  on  working  days 
and  holidays,  never  asking  for  a  change,  always  refusing  to  come 
out  and  work,  and  scowling  savagely  at,  or  cursing,  anybody  who 
had  the  curiosity  to  peer  between  the  bars,  or  the  mistaken  sym- 
pathy to  bring  him  flowers  or  fruit.  Solitary  imprisonment  began 
to  tell  upon  the  rugged  frame,  and  the  outlaw  gradually  failed  in 
health ;  but  he  refused  to  leave  the  cell  where  for  several  years 
he  had  looked  forth  only  at  the  solid  masonry  of  the  prison.  A 
vain  attempt  was  made  to  induce  him  to  consent  to  removal  to 
another  part  of  the  building.  Consumption  set  its  seal  of  death 
upon  him,  and  fistula  hastened  the  wreck  of  his  physical  system, 
and  at  length  General  Viall  had  him  removed  by  force  to  the 
prison  hospital.  To  the  last  Dunmunway  refused  to  submit  to 
authority ;  but  he  softened  somewhat  as  his  final  hours  approached, 
and  at  his  request  a  number  of  the  prisoners  were  permitted  to 
see  him,  and  he  asked  them  to  forgive  him  for  any  unkind  acts 
or  words.  At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  January  11,  1887, 
he  calmly  passed  away,  the  quiet  scene  of  his  death-bed  present- 
ing a  strange  contrast  to  a  life  of  blood  and  violence. 

Dunmunway,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  about  69  years  of 
age.  When  committed  to  prison  he  was  a  heavily-built,  smooth- 
faced, elderly  man,  who  would  pass  for  a  well-to-do  farmer,  or 


OUR    POLICE.  467 

retired  business  man.  His  features  were  not  over-pleasing ;  still 
it  was  only  the  vindictive  glare  of  the  eye  that  would  lead  the 
observer,  unacquainted  with  his  real  character,  to  beware  of  him. 
He  claimed  Massachusetts  as  his  native  State,  but  is  supposed  to 
have  been  born  in  the  West,  where  the  scenes  of  his  earlier 
operations  were  laid.  Of  his  youth  almost  nothing  is  known ; 
nor  could  a  full  history  of  his  crimes  be  written,  for  he  changed 
his  name  whenever  circumstances  required  it,  and  in  some  far- 
away places,  where  he  was  once  a  terror,  the  name  of  James 
Dunmunway  has  probably  never  been  heard.  It  is  said  that  he 
killed  no  less  than  twelve  men  by  his  own  hand ;  that  he  was 
four  times  convicted  of  murder;  was  twice  sentenced  to  be  hanged, 
and  twice  to  imprisonment  for  life,  but  through  corruption  and 
legal  technicalities  he  evaded  the  penalty  on  each  occasion,  once 
being  pardoned  out  of  prison  after  serving  a  short  time  on  a  life 
sentence.  In  Cincinnati  a  policeman  named  Gallagher  attempted 
to  arrest  him.  Dunmunway  had  a  revolver  in  an  overcoat  pocket, 
and  without  drawing  the  weapon  from  his  pocket  he  fired  three 
shots  at  the  officer,  and  killed  him.  For  this  crime  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment  for  life,  but  friends  obtained  his  pardon 
two  years  later.  Either  at  that  time,  or  in  another  encounter 
with  the  police,  Dunmunway  was  shot,  and  had  a  part  of  his 
thumb  taken  off.  One  of  his  murders  was  committed  in  South 
Carolina,  but  there  also  he  escaped  punishment.  He  wielded 
considerable  influence  through  numerous  go-betweens,  who  dis- 
posed of  iiis  plunder  in  the  West  and  South,  and  these  were 
always  ready  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  such  a  profitable  client. 
But  in  Rhode  Island  he  found  that  neither  influence  nor  violence 
could  save  him  from  the  just  award  of  the  deliberate  transgressor. 
On  the  afternoon  of  October  4,  1883,  Detective  Parker  was 
standing  near  the  corner  of  Dorrance  and  Westminster  streets. 
Two  men  passed,  one  of  whom  carried  a  bag  and  a  heavy  satchel. 
The  conduct  of  the  men  was  suspicious.  The  hand  of  the  bearer 
of  the  satchel  seemed  to  tremble,  and  he  gazed  about  furtively  as 
he  proceeded  along.  Mr.  Parker  thought  he  noticed  a  metallic 
jingle  from  the  baggage.  He  determined  to  keep  a  watch  on  the 
strangers.     The  two  men  separated,  and  the  man  with  the  satchel 


468  OUR   POLICE. 

headed  for  the  railway  station.  Detective  Parker  engaged  him 
in  conversation  near  the  ticket  office  for  Boston.  The  stranger 
said  he  was  going  to  Brockton,  Mass,  and  the  detective  remarked 
that  he  was  waiting  for  a  friend  coming  over  the  New  York  & 
New  England  road.  The  man  asked  the  officer  if  he  knew  where 
he  could  get  a  drink,  and  invited  Mr.  Parker  to  go  with  him,  hut 
the  detective  said  he  must  wait  for  his  friend.  The  officer  noticed 
what  appeared  to  he  a  silver  urn  wrapped  up  in  a  package,  and 
watching  his  opportunity  pressed  against  the  satchel,  which  he 
found  was  heavily  loaded.  His  suspicions,  aroused  from  the  out- 
set, were  now  confirmed.  He  decided  to  make  a  sort  of  detour, 
keeping  the  fellow  in  sight  in  order  that  his  accomplice  would 
join  him ;  hut  the  latter  did  not  appear,  and  the  possessor  of  the 
satchel  was  taken  into  the  office  of  Deputy- Chief  Brown.  The 
valise  and  packages  were  opened,  and  a  costly  collection  of  family 
plate  in  the  form  of  solid  and  plated  silverware  was  found,  bear- 
ing the  monograms  ^^  G.  W.  S."  and  "  G.  W.  R.,"  in  German 
letters.  The  prisoner  gave  the  name  of  George  Weaver,  and 
said  he  belonged  in  Brockton.  He  accounted  for  his  possession 
of  the  silver  by  saying  that  he  was  driven  by  necessity  to  sell 
the  silver  which  had  been  left  to  him  by  his  parents,  who  were 
dead.  He  said  that  he  did  not  know  the  fellow  who  was  with 
him  on  the  street,  but  thought  that  he  belonged  in  this  city,  and 
called  himself  Jack.  He  subsequently  gave  his  correct  name, 
that  of  Richard  Clayton.  The  silverware  consisted  of  pitchers, 
butter  dishes,  urns,  salvers,  knives,  forks,  spoons,  candlesticks, 
and  a  variety  of  other  tableware,  in  all  valued  at  from  $1,000  to 
$1,500,  and  weighing  more  than  37  pounds.  No  report  had 
been  received  of  any  robbery  in  this  city,  and  the  police  tele- 
phoned to  Newport.  There  it  was  ascertained  that  the  residence 
of  W.  C.  Rivers,  on  Red  Cross  avenue,  had  been  broken  into, 
and  a  quantity  of  silver-plate  stolen.  Clayton  proved  to  be  the 
robber,  and  the  plunder  was  returned  to  its  owner  in  Newport 
almost  before  the  family  were  aware  of  their  loss. 


OUR  POLICE.  469 


CE AFTER    XXXII. 

BANE  ROBBERIES.  —  HOW  THE  OLD  MERCHANTS*  BANK  WAS 
PLUNDERED  OF  $100,000. — THE  ROBBERY  OF  THE  TRADERS* 
BANK. — IT  WAS  PROBABLY  DONE  FROM  THE  INSIDE. — MAJOR 
ENGLEY'S  CONSPIRACY. HIS  PLOT  TO  DEFRAUD  THE  MER- 
CHANTS* UNION  EXPRESS  COMPANY  OUT  OF  $300,000. — THE 
STORY  AS  TOLD  TO  THE  EDITOR  BY  QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL 
DENNIS. — THE  KEYS  THAT  FAILED  TO  FIT. — THE  POLICE  ON 
THE  WATCH. — MAJOR  ENGLEY  ARRESTED. — HE  PLEADS  GUILTY 
AND  IS  SENTENCED  TO  IMPRISONMENT. 

Providence  has  had  its  share  of  bank  robberies,  both  in  the 
days  of  the  watchmen,  and  in  more  recent  times.  About  forty 
years  ago  the  old  Merchants*  Bank,  on  Westminster  street,  was 
plundered  of  $100,000.  The  bank  was  one  of  the  leading  insti- 
tutions of  the  State,  and  did  an  extensive  business.  One  day,  in 
the  spring  of  the  year,  a  middle-aged  man  visited  the  bank,  and 
made  a  deposit.  For  three  weeks  afterward  his  visits,  always  on 
the  pretext  of  business,  were  frequent,  and  it  was  remembered 
subsequently  that  he  took  occasion  to  scrutinize  the  arrangement 
of  things  in  the  bank,  and  especially  the  safe.  However,  his 
dealings  were  apparently  straight-forward,  he  kept  a  substantial 
balance  to  his  account,  and  his  manner  was  prepossessing.  One 
Saturday  evening  the  safe,  which  was  of  the  old-fashioned  kind, 
secured  with  a  key,  was  locked  with  $100,000  in  it.  The  cashier 
and  the  clerk  went  home,  and  spent  Sunday  as  Rhode  Islanders, 
with  comfortable  consciences,  always  do  spend  that  day.  On 
Monday  morning  they  were  promptly  at  the  post  of  duty.  The 
safe  was  locked  as  before,  but  the  office  showed  signs  of  confusion, 
and,  when  the  safe  was  opened,  $100,000  in  money,  left  there  on 
Saturday,  was  missing.  A  reward  of  $5,000  was  offered  for 
detection  and  conviction  of  the  robber,  but  without  effect.  It  is 
understood  that  about   $75,000   of  the  plunder  was   afterward 


470  OUR   POLICE. 

returned  to  the  bank,  but  the  guilty  person,  although  identified, 
was  never  brought  to  justice.  The  robber  proved  to  be  the  agree- 
able business  man,  whose  frequent  visits  to  the  bank  had  given 
him  an  opportunity  to  gain  access  to  the  safe,  and  take  an  impres- 
sion of  the  lock.  From  this  impression  he  had  a  key  made,  with 
which,  when  a  favorable  time  arrived,  he  opened  the  safe,  and 
had  the  contents  before  him. 

The  next  robbery  of  note  was  of  the  Trader's  Bank,  January 
13,  1865.  The  amount  taken  was  $47,000.  The  bank  had  in 
its  vault  over  $40,000  in  specie,  and  a  quantity  of  United  States 
bonds ;  also  some  valuable  jewelry,  the  property  of  the  wife  of 
a  well-known  druggist.  When  Cashier  Knight  went  to  open  the 
safe  one  Monday  morning,  he  could  not  unlock  it.  Again  and 
again  he  tried,  but  the  combination  would  not  work.  A  safe 
expert  was  sent  for,  who,  after  examination,  said  that  the  safe 
had  been  opened  some  time,  Saturday  or  Sunday,  and  then  locked 
on  a  different  combination.  Upon  opening  the  safe,  all  the  con- 
tents, including  the  jewels,  were  missing.  A  Boston  lock  manu- 
facturer was  summoned,  who,  on  making  an  examination  of  the 
outside  back  door  locks,  found  that  they  had  been  unlocked  by 
none  other  than  the  regular  key,  as  there  was  not  the  slightest 
scratch  on  the  inside  of  the  locks.  This  directed  suspicion  to 
one  of  the  bank  employes.  Officer  J.  Crawford  Potter  searched 
the  bank,  and  found  several  bags  of  the  stolen  coin  secreted 
beneath  a  heap  of  old  paper.  The  coin  was  not  disturbed,  and 
Detective  Potter,  with  officer  C.  G.  Chaffee,  remained  on  watch 
in  the  bank  several  nights,  to-  see  if  some  one  would  come  for 
the  stolen  specie;  but  no  one  came.  The  suspected  employ^ 
departed  from  Providence  very  suddenly,  and  eluded  an  officer 
sent  by  Captain  Gross  in  pursuit  of  him.  He  was  never  arrested. 
Only  about  $1,000,  the  amount  in  the  bags  of  coin  found  hidden 
in  the  bank,  was  recovered.  It  is  certain  that  the  specie  was  not 
all  taken  from  the  safe  at  one  time,  as  the  quantity  taken  would 
fill  nearly  a  bushel  basket.  The  specie  had  lain  in  the  safe  some 
six  months  before  the  loss  was  brought  to  light,  and  it  is  thought 
that  the  coin  was  taken  from  time  to  time  until  all  was  gone,  and 
then  the  guilty  party,  to  make  it  appear  as  if  a  single  robbery 
had  been  committed,  changed  the  combination  of  the  safe  lock. 


OUR   POLICE.  471 

Probably  few  of  the  younger  generation,  when  they  note  the 
soldier-like  tread,  frank  blue  eyes,  and  rosy  cheeks  of  Quarter- 
master General  Charles  R.  Dennis,  have  recalled  to  mind  the 
fact  that  he  was  instrumental  in  thwarting  one  of  the  most  gigan- 
tic conspiracies  ever  conceived  to  rob  and  defraud  an  express 
company.  The  veteran  soldiers  of  Rhode  Island  all  remember 
Major  James  C.  Engley ;  some  of  them  have  too  much  occasion 
to  remember  him.  After  his  connection  with  the  recruiting  ser- 
vice. Major  Engley  acquired  control  of  what  was  known  as 
"  Howard's  Express,"  running  between  this  city  and  Boston. 
In  1866  he  was  also  at  the  head  of  the  Neptune  Express  Com- 
pany, and  when  the  Merchants'  Union  Express  Company  was 
organized,  a  proposition  was  made  by  the  latter  to  buy  up  the 
Neptune.  In  the  arrangements  for  the  transfer  of  the  business 
Engley  insisted  upon  the  stipulation  that  he  should  be  the  Provi- 
dence agent.  The  Merchants'  Union  objected  to  this,  but  finally 
agreed  that  Engley  should  hold  the  place  as  nominal  agent, 
without  salary,  having  a  desk  in  the  office  for  the  management  of 
his  "Howard's  Express  "  business,  but  not  actively  interfering 
in  the  Merchants'  Union  affairs.  The  real  and  responsible  agency 
of  the  Merchants'  Union  was  devolved  upon  General  Charles  R. 
Dennis,  who  had  a  desk  close  to  that  of  Engley,  and  who  was 
assisted  by  a  clerk,  Mr.  George  W.  Earle,  now  deceased,  and  son 
of  the  well-known  express  manager,  George  B.  Earle ;  the  Mer- 
chants' Union  having  full  confidence  in  Mr.  Dennis,  both  as  to 
experience  and  integrity,  and  Mr.  Dennis  in  Mr.  Earle. 

Engley  was  supposed  to  have  no  keys  to  the  safe.  General 
Dennis  had  keys,  so  had  Mr.  Earle,  and  these  alone  had  authority 
to  open  or  enter  the  safe.  Engley  conceived  a  conspiracy  to 
obtain  $300,000  by  defrauding  the  express  company,  which  ap- 
peared to  him  all  the  easier  to  carry  out,  on  account  of  his  being 
denied  admission  to,  and  therefore  free  of  all  responsibility  for 
the  security  of  property  entrusted  to  the  company.  He  visited 
Boston,  and  there  met  an  old  acquaintance  named  C.  A.  Dean, 
to  whom  he  related  his  plan  for  becoming  suddenly  wealthy.  The 
scheme  was  to  have  $300,000  sent  from  New  York  to  Providence 
through  the  Merchants'  Union  ;  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  money 


472  OUR   POLICE. 

in  Providence,  Engley  should  abstract  it  from  the  safe ;  the  Mer- 
chants' Union  Company,  being  responsible,  would  refund  the 
whole  amount  to  the  sender,  and  the  money  thus  refunded  should 
be  divided  in  three  equal  parts,  between  Engley,  Dean,  and  any 
third  party  they  would  take  into  the  conspiracy,  in  order  to  raise 
the  sum  to  be  sent.  Engley  proposed  that  the  amount  should  be 
made  up  at  some  bank  of  good  standing  before  being  forwarded, 
so  that  there  should  exist  undoubted  evidence  of  the  money 
having  been  shipped ;  that  he,  in  his  capacity  as  agent  at  Provi- 
dence, would  receive  and  receipt  for  it,  and  could  subsequently 
make  affidavit,  if  necessary,  to  that  effect.  In  order  to  divert 
suspicion  from  himself,  Engley  suggested  that,  on  the  evening  of 
the  robbery,  a  party  should  be  given  at  his  house,  which  would 
of  course  draw  the  attention  of  a  number  of  trustworthy  citizens 
to  his  presence  at  home ;  that  he  would  slip  out  for  a  few  moments 
unobserved  by  the  guests,  and  return  again,  after  effecting  the 
abstraction  of  the  package  from  the  safe.  As  to  who  would  be 
suspected  of  taking  the  $300,000  Engley  remarked  that  Mr. 
Dennis,  the  responsible  agent,  Mr.  Earle,  and,  perhaps,  a  trades- 
man doing  business  in  an  adjoining  store  would  doubtless  be 
under  the  ban  as  probably  or  possibly  guilty  of  the  crime. 

The  next  step  was  to  find  some  person  with  $300,000,  or  who 
could  obtain  the  possession  of  such  a  large  amount  for  a  short 
time,  willing  to  become  a  party  to,  and  share  in  the  profits  of  the 
nefarious  scheme.  A  Mr.  C.  W.  Fitch,  of  New  York,  was  selec- 
ted as  a  possible  partner  in  the  enterprise.  The  conspirators 
made  a  mistake  in  their  man.  Although  given  to  speculation 
somewhat  outside  of  ordinary  channels,  he  was  not  a  criminal, 
and  had  no  intention  of  becoming  one.  Dean  assumed  in  the 
negotiations  the  alias  of  Drew,  and,  under  that  name  invited 
Mr.  Fitch  to  a  meeting  at  the  Parker  House  in  Boston.  There 
he  disclosed  the  plot,  in  a  general  way,  and  asked  Fitch  to  join 
in  the  risks  and  share  in  the  prospective  gains.  The  latter  did 
not  give  a  definite  reply,  but  on  returning  to  New  York  laid  the 
matter  before  a.  legal  friend.  The  lawyer  advised  Mr.  Fitch  to 
ascertain  all  he  could  of  the  plan,  and  communicate  the  facts  to 
the  express  company.     To  this  the  New  York  speculator  agreed. 


OUR    POLICE.  473 

At  another  interview  in  Boston,  the  whole  scheme  was  unfolded 
to  him,  and  Mr.  Fitch,  after  pretending  to  enter  heartily  into  it, 
returned  to  New  York,  ostensibly  to  prepare  for  the  enterprise ; 
but  instead  of  doing  this  he  at  once  stated  the  whole  case  to  Mr. 
J.  D,  Andrews,  agent  for  the  company  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Andrews  called  in  the  aid  of  Pinkerton's  Detective  Agency,  and 
a  counterplot  was  arranged  that  would  bring  Engley's  villainy  to 
light,  and  protect  the  company  from  loss. 

It  was  arranged  that  a  package  marked  $300,000,  but  really 
containing  only  $3,594,  should  be  made  up,  with  five  hundred 
dollar  bills  at  top  and  bottom,  in  such  a  way  as  to  readily  deceive 
a  man  in  the  haste  that  Engley  would  presumably  be  on  the  night 
of  the  intended  robbery.  The  package  was  to  arrive  in  Provi- 
dence on  Thursday  evening,  December  19,  1867,  but  a  heavy 
snow-storm  set  in  and  prevented  the  train  from  getting  beyond 
New  London,  so  that  the  arrival  of  the  supposed  $300,000  did 
not  take  place  until  Friday  evening.  The  rest  of  the  story  had, 
perhaps,  better  be  told  in  the  words  of  General  Dennis  to  the 
editor  of  this  work : 

"  I  had  no  confidence  whatever  in  Engley,"  said  General  Den- 
nis, "  and  I  have  no  doubt  now  that  $200  abstracted  from  my 
cash  account  went  in  that  direction.  The  company  evidently 
thought  so,  for,  after  Engley  had  been  detected  in  his  crime,  they 
returned  the  $200  to  me.  About  a  month  before  Engley's  plot 
came  to  a  head  I  saw  his  pocket-book  lying  on  his  desk,  which 
was  next  to  mine.  It  was  a  long  pocket-book,  with  flaps  to  it. 
Drivers  and  others  were  coming  and  going,  Mr.  Engley  himself 
was  out,  and  I  wished  to  go  out.  I  thought  it  unsafe,  therefore, 
for  the  pocket-book  to  remain  where  it  was,  and  I  took  it  up  to 
toss  it  into  Engley's  desk.  As  I  lifted  the  pocket-book  I  observed 
two  keys  which  had  been  lying  between  the  covers.  They 
resembled  the  keys  to  the  safe.  Knowing  that  Mr.  Engley  had 
no  right  to  have  such  keys  in  his  possession  I  picked  them  up, 
and  examined  them.  They  were  just  like  mine  and  Mr.  Earle's, 
except  that  they  lacked  finish,  appearing  .to  be  rudely  made ;  and 
had  no  numbers  on  them.  I  went  to  Mr.  Earle,  and  asked  him 
to  let  me  see  his  keys,  wishing  to  make  sure  that  these  could  not 


474  OUR    POLICE. 

be  Mr.  Earle's.  He  showed  them  to  me.  I  had  my  own ;  so 
that  these  of  Engley's  were  evidently  imitations  prepared  for 
some  wrongful  purpose.  I  went  to  the  safe,  and  found  that,  rude 
as  the  keys  were,  they  would  open  it.  I  was  so  angered  that,  if 
Engley  had  come  in  at  that  moment,  an  encounter  between  us 
would  have  been  unavoidable.  But  the  more  I  reflected  the  more 
I  saw  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  challenge  a  controversy  at  that 
time.  On  the  other  hand  I  was  determined  to  deprive  him  of  the 
ability  to  rob  the  company.  A  cutler  was  grinding  away  not  far 
off.  I  went  into  his  place,  put  the  keys  in  a  vise,  and  with  a  file 
speedily  took  off  enough  of  the  wards  to  make  it  impossible  to 
turn  the  lock.  Then  I  hastened  back  to  the  oflfice,  replaced  the 
keys  in  the  pocket-book,  leaving  the  pocket-book  just  as  Engley 
had  found  it.  I  also  told  Mr.  Earle  that  he  must  never  let 
Engley  have  his  keys,  and  that  dismissal  would  be  the  penalty  of 
failure  to  comply  with  this  instruction.  Mr.  Earle  admitted  to 
me  that  Engley  had  sometimes  borrowed  his  keys,  under  one  pre- 
text or  another,  and  no  doubt  it  was  in  this  way  that  Engley  got 
the  set  I  found  in  his  pocket-book.  Being  strictly  honest  himself 
Mr.  Earle  had,  of  course,  not  suspected  any  evil  intent  on 
Engley's  part. 

"I  at  once  communicated  the  circumstances  to  New  York,  and, 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  it  was  the  same  day  that  the  company 
received  notice  of  the  plot  to  rob  the  safe.  Of  the  after  opera- 
tions I  was  kept  fully  aware,  and  had  much  part.  The  Provi- 
dence police  were  informed  of  the  situation,  and  gave  ready  and 
valuable  aid  and  assistance.  I  shall  not  be  likely  to  forget  those 
two  nights — the  night  the  package  did  not  arrive  owing  to  the 
storm,  and  the  night  after  it  did  arrive,  when  Engley  was  detected 
in  the  attempt  to  consummate  his  wicked  scheme.  Officer  E.  L. 
Hunt  was  in  the  shop  next  to  the  express  oflfice — which,  by  the 
way,  was  at  Turk's  Head — a  hole  being  bored  in  the  partition  so 
as  to  give  him  a  full  view  of  whatever  might  go  on.  I  was  in 
George  W.  Wright's  store,  having  a  full  view  from  the  second- 
story  windows,  of  the  interior  of  the  express  oflSce.  I  had 
arranged  the  blinds  in  the  express  office,  which  were  raised  from 
below,  so  that  they  would  only  come  up  about  half-way  on  the 


OUR   POLICE.  475 

windows,  thus  concealing  the  interior  from  the  sidewalk,  but 
leaving  it  exposed  to  any  one  looking  down  from  an  opposite  win- 
dow. There  was  also  a  Pinkerton  detective  in  Phillips'  fruit 
store,  and,  I  think,  another  police  officer. 

"  The  superintendent  of  the  express  company  and  the  Pinker- 
ton  men  had  no  confidence  in  the  eifectiveness  of  my  work  on 
Engley's  safe  keys.  It  seems  that  Engley,  who  had  undoubtedly 
entered  the  safe  with  these  keys  before,  had  resolved,  about  the 
time  his  plan  of  robbery  began  to  mature,  not  to  be  seen  near 
the  safe,  so  that  no  one  could  say  he  had  anything  to  do  with  it. 
The  Pinkerton  men,  however,  could  hardly  believe  that  he  left 
the  keys  untried,  while  going  on  with  the  plot,  and  assuring  his 
supposed  New  York  confederate  that  he  had  keys  to  open  the 
safe.  Therefore  they  concluded  that  the  keys  had  not  been  suf- 
ficiently damaged  to  be  inoperative.  I  was  sure,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  those  keys,  when  I  put  them  back  on  Engley's  desk, 
could  never  open  the  safe,  and  the  result  showed  I  was  right. 

"  It  was  a  bitter  cold  night,  and  the  hours  passed  wearily  as  I 
waited  for  the  denouement.  At  last  about  midnight,  Engley  stopped 
in  front  of  the  office,  looked  anxiously  up  and  down  the  street, 
and  then  peered  long  and  anxiously  within.  Then  he  walked 
past,  turned  a  corner,  crossed  over  in  the  snow  and  went  up  an 
alley ;  after  being  out  of  sight  for  awhile  he  returned,  and  at 
length  hastily  entered  the  express  office.  I  could  see  him  try  to 
raise  the  blinds  the  full  length  of  the  windows,  but  a  knot  I  had 
placed  there  prevented  it.  After  assuring  himself  that  no  person 
was  hidden  in  the  office,  Engley  took  the  safe  keys  from  his  vest 
pocket,  stepped  quickly  to  the  safe,  and  tried  to  open  it.  For 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  he  labored  in  vain  at  the  lock ;  then, 
with  a  look  that  meant  bitter  disappointment,  he  turned  to  depart. 
He  left  the  express  office,  and  hurried  ofi"  in  the  direction  of 
Broad  street.  One  of  the  Pinkerton  men  followed  and  arrested 
him." 

At  the  following  term  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  Major 
Engley  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge  of  conspiracy,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  eight  months'  imprisonment,  the  leniency  of  the  court 
exciting  much  surprise,  although  the  fact  that  he  had  not  sue- 


476  OUR   POLICE. 

ceeded  in  effecting  any  robbery,  however  villainous  his  intentions, 
reconciled  public  opinion  somewhat  to  the  exercise  of  judicial 
clemency.  General  Dennis  was  rewarded  for  his  faithful  vigilance 
with  the  nominal  as  well  as  the  real  agency  of  the  express 
company. 


OUR   POLICE.  477 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  ESSENTIAL  CRUELTY  OF  PROFESSIONAL  BURGLARY. — HOW 
MR.  LINKE  WAS  ROBBED  OF  THE  SAVINGS  OF  A  LIFE-TIME. — 
A  BOLD  OUTRAGE  IN  THE  VERY  HEART  OF  THE  CITY. — TWO 
NOTORIOUS  CRIMINALS  SUSPECTED  OF  THE  BURGLARY. — FATE 
OF  "BILLY  porter"  AND  "JOHNNY  IRVING." — "MOTHER 
MANDELBAUM." — HER  CAREER  AS  A  RECEIVER  OF  STOLEN 
GOODS. — DRIVEN  TO  CANADA  AT  LAST. — BRAVING  ARREST  TO 
ATTEND   HER   DAUGHTER'S   FUNERAL. 

"  The  essential  cruelty  of  professional  burglary  becomes  palpa- 
ble Avhen  it  is  such  a  case  as  that  of  the  robbery  of  the  store  of 
Mr.  Linke,  in  which  it  sweeps  away  the  accumulations  of  a  life- 
time, and  brings  temporary  ruin  in  its  train.  But  it  is  essentially 
cruel  in  all  its  phases.  The  shock  which  one  feels  on  finding 
that  he  has  been  robbed  is  always  greater  than  would  have  been 
occasioned  by  the  same  amount  of  loss  in  any  other  way,  even  if 
the  pecuniary  loss  is  not  so  great  but  that  it  can  be  borne  without 
inconvenience.  There  is  an  indignation  accompanying  the  sense  of 
loss  that  makes  it  much  harder  to  bear  than  the  ordinary  accidents 
of  nature.  There  is  the  feeling  that  it  has  gone  to  benefit 
scoundrels  and  to  be  spent  in  vile  debauchery,  while  there  is  even 
a  slight  annoyance  at  the  thought  that  the  plunder  will  bring  but 
half  its  value,  and  if  the  articles  stolen  have  any  personal  inter- 
est, that  they  will  be  treated  with  such  indignity.  The  laws  and 
the  courts  are  reasonably  severe  against  professional  thieves,  who 
live  entirely  by  preying  upon  society,  but  public  opinion  is  apt  to 
have  an  interest  in  their  exploits,  and  to  feel  a  sort  of  sympathy 
with  their  escape,  as  in  that  of  the  notorious  "  Red  Leary,"  of 
New  York,  which  does  not  think  how  cruel  is  their  mode  of  liveli- 
hood, and  how  base  and  degraded  they  usually  are  in  their  per- 
sons. The  professional  burglar  is  a  most  noxious  pest,  and  no 
daring  or  skill  should  be  allowed  to  throw  even  a  fictitious  gla- 
mour over  his  exploits." 


478  OUR   POLICE. 

With  this  text,  from  the  graphic  pen  of  the  editor  of  the  Jour- 
naly  the  day  after  the  discovery  of  the  Linke  rohhery,  may  well 
be  introduced  a  sketch  of  that  bold  and  most  heartless  outrage. 
Mr.  C.  Robert  Linke  had  the  savings  of  a  lifetime  in  his  watch 
and  jewelry  shop,  at  No.  77  Westminster  street.  Providence. 
The  store  is  situated  on  that  street  and  the  alley  known  as  Mc- 
Neal's  lane.  On  the  evening  of  June  27, 1879,  Mr.  H.  S.  Fink, 
one  of  the  clerks  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Linke,  left  the  shop  at 
the  usual  hour  of  closing,  having  secured  the  safes,  noticed  that 
the  doors  were  locked  and  the  lights  burning.  He  arrived  at  the 
shop  next  (Saturday)  morning,  about  a  quarter  past  seven  o'clock, 
and  in  passing  by  the  first  safe  behind  the  counter,  he  saw  that 
the  door  of  the  safe  was  wide  open.  A  glance  was  sufficient  to 
perceive  that  it  had  been  tampered  with,  and  the  contents  re- 
moved. The  door  of  the  larger  safe,  standing  beside  the  first, 
was  ajar,  and  the  inner  plate  had  been  stripped  ofi*.  This  strong 
box  was  also  empty,  and  a  number  of  trays,  heaped  togetkter, 
with  a  set  of  burglars'  tools,  told  how  the  robbery  had  been  ac- 
complished. Fink  immediately  notified  the  police,  and  Detective 
Swan,  Captain  Marston,  and  a  number  of  other  officers  hastened 
to  the  shop.  Detective  Swan  first  turned  his  attention  to  a  small 
apartment  in  the  rear,  and  found  that  the  door  leading  into  the 
main  shop  had  been  wrenched  opened  with  a  "jimmy."  In  the 
rear  of  this  small  apartment  was  a  vacant  shop,  formerly  used  for 
the  sale  of  liquor,  and  the  partition  had  been  removed  about 
twelve  or  fifteen  inches  from  the  floor,  so  that  entrance  to  the 
jewelry  shop  could  be  obtained  with  comparative  ease.  The 
door  of  the  liquor  place  had  been  wrenched  open  with  the  aid  of 
a  "jimmy,"  the  old  lock  removed,  and  a  spring  lock  substituted, 
with  a  string  attached,  which  was  suspended  near  the  window,  a 
pane  of  which  had  been  broken.  It  appeared  that  on  the  day 
before  the  robbery,  three  men,  apparently  strangers  in  the  city, 
applied  to  Mr.  George  Manchester  to  obtain  a  lease  of  the  vacant 
store,  in  which  they  proposed  to  establish  a  bar.  He  accompanied 
them  to  the  store,  and  after  they  had  examined  the  interior,  they 
decided  not  to  engage  it  for  the  time  being.  The  examination 
undoubtedly  assisted  the  robbers  to  plan  their  entry  into  Mr. 


OUR   POLICE.  479 

Linke's  jewelry  shop.  The  placing  of  a  spring  lock  on  the  door 
was  a  precaution  to  deceive  the  policeman  on  the  beat,  who,  when 
trying  the  door  in  his  rounds,  would  find  it  fastened,  and  every- 
thing apparently  safe.  A  striped  duster  was  found,  which  had 
been  used  by  one  of  the  cracksmen  while  making  the  opening  in 
the  partition.  The  burglar's  tools  left  behind  were  of  recent 
manufacture,  and  consisted  of  two  long  "jimmies,"  two  diamond 
chisels,  a  screw-driver,  clamp,  set-screw,  maHet,  skeleton  key, 
and  small  bottle  of  oil.  This  oil,  it  was  ascertained,  had  been 
bought  the  same  evening  from  an  apothecary  on  Westminster 
street.  Two  holes  were  chiseled  at  an  equal  distance  above  and 
below  the  handle  of  the  smaller  safe,  made  by  C.  F.  Miller,  of 
Providence,  and  the  "jimmy"  was  applied  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  wrench  the  lock  from  its  rest.  On  the  other  safe,  manufactured 
by  C.  B.  Burtt  &  Co.,  the  robbers  were  compelled  to  exercise 
rather  more  strength  and  ingenuity.  After  piercing  the  outer 
plate  with  the  chisels,  they  inserted  the  "jimmy,"  and  separated 
the  inner  lining,  which  was  then  removed.  The  jewelry 
and  watches  were  doubtless  emptied  into  bags  prepared  for  the 
occasion ;  the  silver  spoons,  tankards,  etc.,  ia  the  cases  being  left 
undisturbed.  The  plunder  taken  amounted  in  value  to  about 
J15,000,  about  $12,000  being  Mr.  Linke's  personal  loss,  and  the 
remainder  watches  and  other  valuables  deposited  with  him  for 
repair. 

The  robbery  meant  ruin  for  Mr.  Linke,  and  much  sympathy 
and  indignation  were  manifested  by  our  citizens.  Governor  Van 
Zandt  offered  a  reward  of  $500  for  the  apprehension  and  convic- 
tion of  the  criminals,  and  a  similar  reward  was  offered  by  the 
Board  of  Aldermen.  Detective  Swan  ascertained  that  the 
motorious  burglars,  Billy  Porter  and  Johnny  Irving,  had  been  in 
the  city  for  several  days,  stopping  at  a  small  hotel  on  North  Main 
street,  and  had  given  up  their  rooms  on  the  very  evening  of  the 
robbery.  The  crime  was  doubtless  committed  in  the  early  part 
of  the  night,  which  happened  to  be  enlivened  with  drums  and 
bands  and  considerable  noise  on  the  street,  so  that  everything  was 
favorable  for  the  burglars.  Porter  having  been  convicted  in 
Brooklyn,  some  time  later,  of  burglary,  and  serving  a  sentence  in 


480  OUR   POLICE. 

the  Kings  County  Penitentiary,  Mr.  Linke  was  called  upon  to 
visit  that  prison  to  see  if  he  could  identify  the  famous  burglar  as 
a  person  whom  he  had  noticed  around  his  store  at  the  time  of  the 
robbery.  "  I  could  not  swear  to  any  identity,"  said  Mr.  Linke 
to  the  writer,  "because the  prison  clothes  and  shaving  make  such 
a  difference  in  the  man's  appearance  that  I  should  not  think  his 
own  friends  could  recognize  him.  A  watch  was  in  his  possession 
when  arrested  which  in  every  respect,  except  the  difference  of  a 
figure  in  the  number,  was  like  a  watch  stolen  from  me  by  the 
burglars ;  but,  on  account  of  the  number  and  the  absence  of  my 
private  mark,  I  could  not  swear  to  that.'*  "  I  have  had  to  begin 
from  the  beginning  again."  added  Mr.  Linke  mournfully,  "and 
it  has  been  a  hard  struggle  indeed."  The  gleam  in  Mr.  Linke's 
eyes,  however,  when  he  spoke  about  Porter's  prospective  punish- 
ment for  crimes  committed  in  Europe,  suggested  that,  in  his  view, 
that  criminal  was  responsible  for  his  losses. 

Porter,  who  has  just  been  arrested  in  England,  has  been 
shadowed  since  last  year  on  account  of  robbing  a  jeweler  in 
Munich.  He  had  two  associates,  Frank  Buck  and  a  man  named 
Johnson.  For  a  long  time  they  eluded  the  police  and  detectives 
of  Europe,  and  confined  their  robberies  to  no  particular  country. 
They  lived  in  fine  style  in  England ;  had  carriages  and  horses, 
fast  yachts  and  elegant  homes.  They  were  never  detected  until 
they  began  to  quarrel  among  themselves  and  were  arrested  for 
drunkenness  and  fighting.  Porter  was  at  the  fight  between 
Mitchell  and  Sullivan,  and  was  fired  upon  by  French  gendarmes, 
who  appeared  on  the  scene,  while  he  was  trying  to  escape. 
Johnny  Irving,  who  is  believed  to  have  also  been  concerned  in 
the  Linke  burglary,  was  killed  in  a  saloon  on  Sixth  avenue,  New 
York,  in  a  quarrel  with  another  criminal  of  infamous  reputation. 

The  valuables  stolen  from  Mr.  Linke  are  supposed  to  have 
found  their  way  to  that  notorious  receiver  of  stolen  goods  known 
as  "Mother  Mandelbaum."  Porter  was  one  of  her  favorites, 
assisted  by  her  to  fight  the  law,  and  even  aided  in  his  criminal 
undertakings.  As  ex-Superintendent  Walling  says  in  his 
"Recollections  of  a  New  York  Chief  of  Police:"  "Many  rob- 
beries are  instigated  by  receivers,  and  the  means  for  perpetrating 


OUR   POLICE.  481 

the  crimes  provided  by  them.  Nor  is  it  simply  the  cost  of  the 
*  jimmy,'  or  other  special  tools.  The  criminal  must  live.  Hav- 
ing spent  the  proceeds  of  a  first  robbery,  the  thief  may,  and  often 
does,  become  the  pensioner  of  the  receiver,  until  a  new  job  is 
planned  and  executed.  It  takes  money  for  a  first-class  thief  to 
ransack  a  store  thoroughly ;  and  to  frustrate  watchfulness  the 
criminal  must  spend  money  freely.  A  building  must  be  watched 
for  days  prior  to  a  robbery.  If  fellowship  is  to  be  cultivated 
with  the  watchman  of  the  building,  sometimes  months  elapse 
before  the  thief  and  the  guardian  are  on  intimate  terms.  Invita- 
tions to  drink  are  continuous.  Not  infrequently  a  horse  and 
wagon  must  be  provided.  If  there  is  money  in  the  job,  money 
is  required  to  launch  it,  and  in  all  this  it  is  the  receiver  who  is 
the  financial  backer  of  the  robber.  If  there  were  no  markets 
for  stolen  goods,  there  would  be  no  robberies.  When  criminals 
are  prosecuted,  receivers  have  furnished  the  money  necessary  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  defence.  The  almost  insurmountable 
difficulty  in  obtaining  the  conviction  of  a  receiver  is  that  the 
major  portion  of  the  goods  in  which  he  deals  cannot  be  identified. 
One  piece  of  silk,  velvet,  cloth,  or  calico,  looks  like  another, 
when  stripped  of  its  private  mark,  or  such  printing  as  may  have 
been  on  it  originally.  A  merchant  has  been  robbed,  and  his 
goods  taken.  The  articles  found  in  the  receive  r's  possession  are 
brought  into  court,  but  the  merchant  has  sold  many  of  the  same 
kind.  Say  a  store  has  been  robbed,  and  the  goods  have  been 
carried  off  to  a  secure  place,  every  bit  of  silk,  velvet,  or  other 
fabric,  is  immediately  unwound,  a  most  careful  search  is  made  for 
private  marks,  and  all  tickets,  tags  and  printed  labels  are  de- 
stroyed. The  thief's  careful  efforts  to  efface  the  identity  of  the 
goods  does  not  suffice  a  clever  and  cautious  receiver.  If  he  agrees 
to  buy  the  goods  he  is  not  satisfied  until  he,  too,  has  them  exam- 
ined once  more,  and  then  only  does  he  pay  for  the  goods.  But 
before  the  business  has  come  to  this  stage,  a  great  deal  of  caution 
has  been  exercised.  It  may  be  dangerous  for  the  thief  to  sell  the 
goods  to  the  receiver  too  soon  after  the  robbery ;  and  accord- 
ingly some  months  may  elapse  before  the  transfer  takes  place. 
During  the  interval,  however,  the  receiver  may  deal  out  some 


482  '  OUR   POLICE. 

money  to  the  thieves  as  an  advance.  Sometimes  it  happens  that 
the  receiver  has  one  or  several  agents  in  his  employ,  who  act  as 
go-betweens,  or  brokers,  in  doubtful  goods."  It  can  be  under- 
stood readily  how  goods  coming  from  a  robbery  in  New  York, 
Boston  or  Providence,  may  be  sold  in  Brooklyn  or  Philadelphia, 
or  may  be  shipped  to  a  southern  or  Western  city  for  disposal  at 
auction. 

Now  as  to  "Mother  Mandelbaum."  A  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  William  Mandelbaum  kept  a  haberdashery  shop  in  New 
York.  He  was  a  bustling  Israelite,  but  his  wife.  Prances,  or 
Fredericka,  w*as  his  superior  in  business  capacity.  They  started 
as  dealers  in  a  small  way  in  the  proceeds  of  robberies.  The 
woman  took  the  lead  in  these  nefarious  transactions,  speedily 
acquiring  the  knowledge  of  the  machinery  by  which  criminals  are 
brought  to  justice.  She  was  a  thorough  business  woman,  if  the  re- 
spectable term  "business  "  can  properly  be  applied  to  her  outlawed 
traffic.  The  husband  passed  away  a  number  of  years  ago,  leaving 
her  untrammeled  to  confirm  her  alliance  with  crime.  As  time  went 
on,  her  dealings  in  stolen  property  became  enormous.  She  was 
known,  not  only  throughout  the  United  States,  but  in  Canada, 
Mexico  and  Europe,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  she  had  transac- 
tions in  gold  and  silver  plate  and  precious  stones  in  all  parts  of 
Europe.  She  promptly  settled  her  accounts  with  criminals,  and 
when  one  of  her  patrons  was  in  need  of  defence,  she  became  his 
banker,  and  he  could  draw  on  her  for  sums  which,  in  her  estima- 
tion of  the  capabilities  of  a  first-class  criminal,  he  could  not  hope 
to  repay  within  many  years.  It  is  said  that  she  paid  a  retainer 
of  $5,000  a  year  to  a  firm  of  criminal  lawyers.  At  the  police 
court  the  arrest  of  one  of  her  prot^g^s  was  the  signal  for  the 
instant  appearance  of  one  or  more  of  the  lawyers  allied  with  her, 
and  paid  liberally  for  their  assistance,  and  suspicions  have  not 
been  wanting  that  some  of  the  clerks  who  drew  up  the  informa- 
tions knew  the  importance  of  occasionally  omitting  an  essential 
averment. 

Madam  Mandelbaum  kept  what  appeared  to  be  a  thriving  dry 
goods  and  haberdashery  shop  at  No.  79  Clinton  street,  New 
York.     The  house  was  rated  as  fourth-class  by  the  insurance 


OUR  POLICE.  483 

company,  being  about  one-sixth  brick  and  five-sixths  wood.  It 
was  a  straggling,  ill-built,  yet  curious  looking  building,  more  pre- 
tentious at  its  angle  with  Rivin^ton  street,  than  at  any  other. 
The  angle  was  the  business  concern,  which  concealed  the  real 
occupation  of  its  owner.  Sprawling  away  from  this  angle  down 
Clinton  street  was  the  real  business  part  of  the  establishment. 
This  was  a  two-story,  clap-boarded  wing,  about  twenty-five  feet 
long.  On  the  first  floor  was  one  of  the  best  furnished  apartments 
in  New  York.  There  were  chairs  which  would  have  attracted  the 
cupidity  of  an  antiquarian,  a  massive  mahogany  sideboard,  and 
on  it  a  magnificent  display  of  silverware.  Whether  Madame 
Mandelbaum  intended  to  astonish  her  clients  by  a  display  of  her 
wealth,  or  to  show  that  she  lived  in  a  style  befitting  her  riches, 
need  not  be  discussed. 

On  the  shelves  of  the  store  where  the  ostensible  business  of  the 
concern  was  conducted  was  displayed  the  usual  assortment  of  dry 
goods  suitable  to  the  needs  of  the  neighborhood.  Mrs.  Mandel- 
baum could  easily  have  earned  an  excellent  living,  thanks  to  her 
business  capacity,  by  keeping  a  dry  goods  establishment ;  but  she 
preferred  dealing  with  thieves.  She  was  a  woman  above  the 
middle  height,  sufficiently  corpulent  to  be  easily  caricatured,  who 
never,  possibly,  had  enough  of  coquetry  to  indulge  in  corsets, 
with  a  large  mouth  and  thick  lips.  But  she  was  shrewd,  careful, 
methodical  in  character,  and  to  the  point  in  speech.  Wary  in 
the  extreme,  she  never  admitted  any  one  unknown  to  her  and  un- 
vouched  for  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  little  dry  goods  shop. 
But  upon  a  hint,  note  or  personal  recommendation  from  any  one 
she  depended  on,  the  little  wing  of  the  establishment  was  opened 
wide  to  the  visitor.  Mrs.  Mandelbaum's  methods  grew  bolder  as 
her  reputation  increased.  The  majority  of  her  transactions  were 
conducted  by  correspondence  or  through  messengers.  She  rarely 
received  stolen  property  in  bulk  at  her  Clinton  street  shop. 

But  Madame  Mandelbaum  came  to  grief  at  last.  District 
Attorney  Peter  B.  Olney,  a  New  Yorker,  of  Rhode  Island  des- 
cent, resolved  that  her  traffic  should  be  broken  up.  Special  offi- 
cers, detailed  for  the  special  object,  visited  her  place  in  the  guise 
of  petty  thieves.     Gradually  they  gained  her  confidence.     Others 


484  OUR   POLICE. 

were  detailed  to  purchase  stolen  goods  from  her.  At  length 
absolute  proof  was  obtained,  sufficient  to  justify  a  prosecution. 
Madame  Mandelbaum  was  arrested  and  arraigned  on  the  charge 
of  receiving  goods,  knowing  them  to  have  been  stolen.  Seeing 
that  a  conviction  was  inevitable,  she  forfeited  her  bond  of  $3,000, 
and  now  resides  in  Canada.  An  attempt  was  made  there  to  pun- 
ish  her  for  bringing  stolen  property  into  the  Dominion,  but  it 
failed  of  success.  Her  wealth  is  said  to  have  dwindled  to 
$125,000,  and  she  has  told  persons  who  have  seen  her  in  the  land 
of  exile  that  she  would  gladly  forfeit  every  penny  of  her  riches 
to  breathe  once  more  the  air  of  New  York  City. 

With  all  her  panoply  of  guilt,  "Mother"  Mandelbaum  had 
the  instincts  of  a  woman  and  a  mother.  She  had  a  young 
daughter  whom  she  tenderly  educated  far  from  her  own  wicked 
associations.  It  is  asserted  that  when  the  unfortunate  and  beauti- 
ful girl  died,  the  stricken  and  wretched  mother,  braving  arrest, 
left  Canada  in  disguise,  and  travelled,  by  a  circuitous  route,  from 
Montreal  to  Rouse's  Point;  then  by  the  Rome,  Watertown  k 
Ogdensburg  Railroad  to  Utica ;  thence  by  private  conveyance  to 
the  Erie  Road,  to  New  York.  She  dared  not  follow  the  body  to 
the  grave,  but  saw  the  funeral  on  its  way,  and  immediately  went 
back  to  her  lonely  home  in  Canada. 


OUR   POLICE.  485 


CHAPTER    XXXIV, 

THE  MURDER  OP  WATERMAN  IRONS. — A  CREDITABLE  PIECE  OF 
DETECTIVE  WORK. — AN  AGED  MERCHANT  DONE  TO  DEATH  IN 
HIS  SHOP. — ON  THE  TRACK  OF  THE  CRIMINALS. — ONE  OF  THEM 
CAPTURED. — REPORTED  CONFESSION  OF  THE  OTHER. — A  NET 
OF  CIRCUMSTANTIAL  EVIDENCE  THAT  COULD  NOT  BE  BROKEN. 
— WHAT  MRS.  ADELINE  ANGELL  SAW. — CONVICTION  OF  DENNIS 
MURPHY. 

The  detection  and  conviction  of  the  murderer  of  Waterman 
Irons  has  added  new  credit  to  the  admirable  record  of  the  Prov- 
idence police.  Seldom  has  a  crime  so  stirred  the  inner  sentiment 
of  a  community.  It  was  an  act  of  peculiar  and  exceptional 
atrocity,  and  deep  sympathy  for  the  dead  was  mingled  with 
hatred  and  dread  of  the  criminal.  The  golden  thread  of  a  ripe 
and  well-rounded  life,  which  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  would 
have  peacefully  parted  as-  the  mellow  fruit,  without  shock  or 
rupture,  drops  back  to  the  bosom  of  mother  earth,  was  cruelly, 
violently  severed.  The  victim  had  passed  the  allotted  years  of 
man ;  and  yet  the  violent  death  of  a  younger  man,*  under  similaj 
circumstances,  would  have  seemed  less  unnatural,  would  have 
impressed  the  community  as  less  horrible.  There  is  something 
about  helpless  infancy  and  venerable  age  that  appeals  to  the  more 
tender  and  sacred  emotions,  and  a  murderous  blow  at  one  or  the 
other  arouses  the  deepest  feeling. 

Citizens  passing  up  and  down  High  street,  have  been  accus- 
tomed for  many  years  to  see  an  aged  man  sitting  in  the  doorway 
of  the  little  old  building,  242  High  street,  bent  with  the  weight 
of  accumulated  years  and  greyed  by  the  storms  of  many  winters. 
On  the  door  frame  beside  him  hung  an  old  piece  of  leather 
toughened  by  constant  exposure  to  the  hot  winds  of  summer  and 
the  cold  blasts  of  winter.  The  storekeeper  was  "Waterman  Irons. 
Seventy  years  ago  he  was  in  the  employ  of  Major  Dean  in  the 


486  OUR   POLICE. 

tannery  located  in  a  lane  which  is  now  Dean  street.  He  was  a 
valuable  and  respected  workman,  and  was  steady,  honest  and 
industrious.  He  became  a  great  favorite  with  Major  Dean,  who 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  young  man  and  contributed  to  his 
subsequent  business  prosperity.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Lydia 
Wilbur,  of  Little  Compton,  by  whom  he  had  three  children,  two 
daughters  and  a  son.  A  daughter,  Mrs.  Thomas  L.  Reed,  and 
a  son  Lewis  residing  in  the  West  survive  him,  his  wife  having 
died  about  five  years  ago.  About  sixty  years  ago  he  started  in 
business  in  the  little  shop  referred  to,  and  where  business  blocks 
and  comfortable  dwellings  now  abound,  green  fields  and  pastures 
spread  out  on  every  side.  In  the  early  years  of  his  life  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  High  Street  Congregational  Church,  and 
was  a  constant  and  devoted  attendant  until  the  society  joined 
the  Richmond  Street  Church,  and  then  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Union  Congregational  Church,  where  he  was  a  regular  wor- 
shipper up  to  the  time  of  his  decease.  On  Monday,  July  13, 
1885,  he  was  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  apoplexy  while  at  the 
residence  of  his  son-in-law,  at  123  Greenwich  street,  and  it  was 
feared  that  he  could  not  survive  the  shock.  His  condition  was 
very  precarious,  but  he  rallied  with  remarkable  vitality  and  at- 
tended to  his  business  with  old-time  regularity  and  fidelity.  He 
was  an  early  riser,  and  invariably  reached  the  shop  about  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  returned  home  at  five  o'clock,  both 
summer  and  winter.  He  retained  his  mental  and  physical  activ- 
ity with  wonderful  power,  and  was  ever  cheerful  and  amiable 
in  his  intercourse  with  friends  and  acquaintances,  with  none  of 
that  eccentricity  and  irritability  which  are  often  the  accompani- 
ments of  old  age. 

The  murder  and  robbery  occurred  on  the  afternoon  of  August 
24,  1888.  The  story  of  the  crime,  as  gathered  from  Mr.  Irons 
before  his  death,  showed  conclusively  that  the  outrage  had  been 
carefully  planned.  Mr.  Irons  had  reached  the  age  of  82,  and, 
despite  his  years,  attended  to  his  business  with  wonderful  regu- 
larity and  application,  and  without  assistance.  He  was  in  the 
habit  of  keeping  a  select  stock  of  goods  on  hand,  and  his  store 
was  a  favorite  resort  for  the  older  citizens  of  his  acquaintance. 


OUR   POLICE.  487 

In  later  years  he  has  taken  much  comfort  and  enjoyment  in  sit- 
ting in  a  comfortable  chair  in  his  doorway,  watching  the  passers- 
by,  with  whom  he  exchanged  cordial  greetings,  and  not  infre- 
quently has  he  dropped  into  a  restful  doze  there.  His  business 
habits  were  simple  and  methodical,  and  it  was  not  a  difficult  task 
for  any  evil-disposed  person  to  readily  become  conversant  with 
his  movements  and  devise  a  plan  to  surprise  him  and  do  him 
bodily  injury.  He  kept  but  comparatively  little  money  in  the 
till,  but  had  been  accustomed  for  years  to  carry  large  sums  of 
money  in  a  long,  leather  pocket-book,  placed  in  his  inside  vest 
pocket,  and  took  no  precaution  of  secrecy  when  making  change, 
exposing  it  openly  and  repeatedly  to  strangers  as  well  as  to  regu- 
lar customers.  Consequently  there  was  reason  to  believe  that 
the  men  who  committed  the  murderous  assault  and  robbery  had 
become  aware  of  these  peculiarities,  and  had  doubtless  visited  the 
store  ostensibly  to  trade,  but  in  reality  to  acquaint  themselves 
thoroughly  with  Mr.  Waterman's  habits  and  surroundings. 

It  was  exactly  two  o'clock,  as  Mr.  Irons  remembered  it,  when 
two  young  men,  one  tall  and  large,  and  the  other  of  lighter 
build,  entered  the  store  and  confronted  him.  They  asked  to  ex- 
amine a  piece  of  side  leather,  and  as  he  turned  to  get  it  from  the 
shelf,  he  was  suddenly  taken  up  in  their  arms  and  forcibly  car- 
ried to  the  back  shop.  He  resisted  as  vigorously  as  his  feeble 
strength  would  permit,  and  strove  to  make  an  outcry.  But  they 
were  strong  and  determined  and  threw  him  to  the  floor,  where 
one  of  them  clutched  his  throat,  and  the  other  soudit  to  unbut- 
ton  his  vest.  He  made  every  effort  to  extricate  himself  from 
their  brutal  hold,  and  was  rewarded  by  several  vicious  kicks  in 
the  shins,  and  he  was  confident  that  one  of  them  jumped  upon 
his  body,  as  he  complained  of  a  severe  pain  across  the  stomach. 
They  worked  rapidly,  hastily  removing  the  pocket-book  with  its 
contents,  but  in  their  haste  made  no  search  of  his  trousers' 
pockets,  in  which  was  a  wallet  containing  $400.  Neither  did 
they  appropriate  his  watch  and  chain,  but  satisfied  that  they  had 
obtained  satisfactory  booty  they  made  a  hasty  exit  after  giving 
their  helpless  victim  several  parting  blows.  Mr.  Irons  succeeded 
in  getting  to  the  front  door  with  great  difficulty,  and  summoned 


488  OUR   POLICE. 

Mr.  Albert  S.  Sweet,  janitor  of  the  Whitfield  building,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  passing.  Mr.  Sweet  hastened  across  the  street,  ar- 
riving just  as  Mr.  Irons,  who  had  managed  to  arise,  fell  back  in 
his  chair,  with  the  exclamation  that  he  had  *'  been  robbed,  and 
about  killed."  Two  men  did  it,  so  Mr.  Irons  said,  one  a  tall, 
large  man,  the  other,  short,  and  thick-set.  They  pretended  to 
want  to  buy  leather.  One  seized  him  and  pulled  him  in  the 
back  room  ;  one  of  them  held  him,  and  the  other  jumped  on  him. 
It  all  took  place,  Mr.  Irons  said,  in  six  or  eight  minutes.  The 
same  two  men,  he  added,  had  bjen  to  his  place  of  business  two 
or  three  different  times  before.  Mr.  Irons  was  weak  and  ex- 
hausted, and  there  was  blood  on  his  head  and  wrists.  He  asked 
Mr.  Sweet  to  call  Mr.  E.  R.  Osgood,  whose  place  of  business  is 
near  by.  Mr.  Irons  at  this  time  appeared  to  be  under  the  im- 
pression that  he  had  been  robbed  of  all  the  money  on  his  person, 
but  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Osgood  arrived  in  answer  to  the  sum- 
mons of  Mr.  Sweet,  it  was  ascertained  that  one  pocket-book,  con- 
taining about  $400,  had  escaped  the  robbers. 

Mr.  Osgood,  while  doing  everything  possible  to  assist  Mr. 
Irons,  called  in  Mr.  Lewis  S.  Miller,  at  the  same  time  giving 
word  to  the  police.  Mr.  Miller,  speaking  of  the  case  to  a 
Journal  reporter,  said  that,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  murder,  "  he 
had  his  attention  drawn,  while  standing  in  the  door  of  his  store, 
to  two  men  of  suspicious  appearance,  who  passed  directly  in  front 
of  the  store,  which  is  two  or  three  doors  above  the  shop  of  Mr. 
Irons.  One  of  the  men  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height 
and  weighed  about  180  pounds.  He  was  attired  in  a  dark  suit 
of  clothes  and  wore  a  felt  hat,  while  the  other  was  about  five  feet 
four  inches  in  height  and  weighed  about  160  pounds.  The 
shorter  man  was  attired  in  a  gray  suit  of  clothes  and  wore  a  felt 
bat  also.  His  attention  was  drawn  to  the  men  by  the  shorter 
man,  who  was  inside,  casting  a  furtive  and  suspicious  glance  at 
him.  So  suspicious  did  the  men  act  that  Mr.  Miller  mentally 
ejaculated,  '  There  goes  a  pretty  pair  of  jail  birds.'  He  thought 
no  more  of  the  matter  until  Mr.  Osgood  sent  for  him,  when  he 
went  immediately  to  Mr.  Irons's  store,  where  he  saw  Mrs. 
Osgood  and  the  men  whom  Mr.  Irons  called  to  his  assistance 


OUR   POLICE.  489 

from  across  the  street.  He,'  upon  his  arrival  at  the  store,  asked 
Mr.  Irons  what  was  the  matter.  Mr.  Irons  replied  '  They  have 
robbed  me.'  He  then  asked  him  how  it  happened.  To  this  Mr. 
Irons  replied :  *  They  came  into  the  store  and  wanted  to  see  a 
side  of  leather,  and  I  told  them  I  could  not  get  one  down  unless 
they  wanted  to  buy  it.  They  said  they  wanted  to  buy.  I  then 
went  to  a  shelf  in  the  rear  of  the  front  room  of  the  shop  and 
reached  up  for  the  side  of  leather,  and  while  in  this  position  they 
grabbed  me,  one  by  the  throat  and  the  other  by  the  arms,  and 
dragged  me  into  the  back  shop.  Once  there  they  threw  me 
down,  and  while  the  one  continued  to  choke  me,  the  other  robbed 
me,  while  both  united  in  kicking  and  jumping  upon  me.'  Mr. 
Irons  complained  of  the  injuries  to  his  limbs  and  stomach,  and 
seemed  to  suiFer  great  pain.  He  also  showed  his  wrists,  which 
were  black  and  blue,  giving  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  grip  of 
the  murderer,  who  held  his  arms.  His  description  of  the  men 
tallied  exactly  with  that  of  Mr.  Miller's." 

To  Captain  Marston,  who  hurried  to  the  scene  of  the  crime, 
Mr.  Irons  told  his  story,  substantially  as  he  told  it  to  Messrs. 
Miller  and  Sweet.  The  Captain  took  every  precaution  to  secure 
such  evidence  as  the  store  might  contain  as  to  the  crime  and  the 
guilty  parties.  As  the  place  was  situated  in  Captain  Payne's 
district.  Captain  IVfarston  promptly  notified  that  officer,  who  has- 
tened without  delay  to  the  spot.  Captain  Marston  offered  to 
take  Mr.  Irons  home  in  the  police  ambulance,  but  the  aged  vic- 
tom,  still  mindful  in  his  suffering  of  those  nearest  and  dearest  to 
him,  declined,  on  the  ground  that  it  might  alarm  his  family,  and 
he  was  conveyed  home  in  a  carriage,  and  medical  attendance 
summoned.  By  this  time  the  street  was  thronged  with  people, 
and  great  excitement  prevailed  as  the  facts  became  known.  The 
store  was  securely  locked  by  the  police,  who  experienced  great 
difficulty  in  checking  the  curiosity  of  the  throng.  The  telephone 
at  police  headquarters  was  brought  into  immediate  requisition, 
and  Detective  Murray  was  detailed  to  investigate  the  case  in 
co-operation  with  the  officers  of  the  two  districts.  Captain  Payne 
and  Detective  Murray  hastened  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Irons  in 
order  to  get  some  possible  description  of  the  robbers,  but  they 


490  OUR   POLICE. 

found  him  in  a  high  state  of  excitement  and  distress,  and  could 
obtain  nothing  that  would  furnish  any  clue  to  identify  the  men. 

Notwithstanding  careful  medical  attention,  Mr.  Irons  steadily 
declined.  To  his  grandson  he  gave  a  description  of  the  men 
similar  to  that  already  reported,  adding,  as  before,  that  he  was 
certain  he  had  seen  them  in  the  store  a  day  or  two  previously. 
As  the  hours  wore  on,  vitality  decreased ;  the  old  man  would 
converse  for  a  moment  or  two,  and  then  fall  into  silence.  If  the 
robbery  was  mentioned  he  would  become  greatly  excited.  Every 
time  his  back  was  touched  he  groaned  with  agony.  After  mid- 
night he  dozed  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  but  never  lost 
consciousness.  He  was  attended  by  a  male  nurse,  whom  he  had 
requested  to  remain  with  him  for  four  or  five  days,  and  he  re- 
ceived every  care  and  attention.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
he  asked  for  some  tea,  and  the  nurse  turned  to  procure  it  when 
he  heard  a  slight  flutter  in  Mr.  Iron's  throat,  and  turning  hur- 
riedly he  saw  that  the  aged  gentleman  had  found  eternal  rest. 

The  post-mortem  examination  showed  the  terrible  treatment 
to  which  the  victim  had  been  subjected.  Death  was  caused  by 
mortal  blows  inflicted,  doubtless,  with  knee,  feet  and  fist,  ruptur- 
ing an  intestine,  and  causing  shock  and  inflammation. 

Chief  of  Police  Child  took  urgent  measures  to  capture  the 
brutal  assassins.  In  addition  to  detectives  Parker  and  Murray, 
a  dozen  of  the  most  intelligent  officers  selecte«l  from  the  several 
districts,  were  ordered  to  attire  themselves  in  citizen's  dress  and 
scour  the  city  in  all  directions.  As  minute  a  description  as  was 
possible  with  the  meagre  information  the  police  had  received, 
was  sent  out  to  all  the  police  authorities  in  Rhode  Island  and 
adjacent  States,  and  nothing  was  left  undone  by  the  Chief  to 
further  the  arrest  of  the  two  men  who  had  taken  the  life  of 
Waterman  Irons. 

Fortunately,  the  murderers  were  not  unobserved.  John  H. 
Moffitt  read  the  story  of  the  crime  in  the  morning  papers  of 
August  25.  lie  remembered  having  seen  two  men,  who  at- 
tracted his  notice,  on  High  street,  near  Mr.  Irons'  store,  on  the 
foregoing  afternoon.  From  what  he  had  seen  of  these  men  he 
thought  they  might  be  the  murderers,  and  he  gave  the  informa- 


OUR    POLICE.  491 

tion  in  his  possession  to  Detective  Parker.  In  the  description 
of  one  of  the  men,  Mr.  Parker  recognized  the  notorious  Peter 
Hackett.  The  other  he  did  not  know,  but  the  fact  of  his  having 
been  in  such  company  at  such  a  time  was  quite  enough  to  make 
the  detective  anxious  to  capture  both  men. 

That  evening  Dennis  Murphy,  the  murderer — the  one  of  the 
two  assassins  that  actually  killed  Waterman  Irons — was  in 
custody.  Detective  Parker,  in  company  with  Lieutenant  Fred- 
erick A.  Rankin,  arrested  Murphy  on  Fountain  street,  and  with 
him  a  man  named  Montgomery,  the  latter  being  subsequently 
discharged,  it  proving  that  he  had  no  connection  with  the  deed. 
Hackett  had,  just  a  few  moments  before,  left  Murphy  for  the 
purpose  of  changing  a  twenty-dollar  bill,  a  part  of  the  spoil  taken 
from  Mr.  Irons,  and  he  had  the  change  in  his  hand  when  Murphy 
was  arrested.  A  short  distance  away,  under  the  guise  of  dark- 
ness, Pete  Hackett  witnessed  the  seizure  of  his  confederate  in 
guilt,  and  he  at  once  hastened  to  make  himself  secure  by  flight. 
He  did  not  have  means  enough  to  carry  him  any  distance.  In 
this  emergency  he  sought  persons  to  whom  he  was  bound  by  ties 
of  relationship  or  association,  and  asked  their  aid.  In  presence 
of  two  or  three  of  these  ho  freely  unbosomed  himself.  He  said 
in  substance  that  Murphy  and  he  were  on  High  street  one  day 
when  Murphy  called  attention  to  'Hhe  old  bloke  over  there," 
meaning  Mr.  Waterman  Irons,  who  was  sitting  or  standing  in 
front  of  his  shop.  "That  old  fellow  carries  a  roll,  they  say" — 
was  Hackett's  reply  to  the  remark,  and  this  set  the  two  to 
thinking  how  to  get  possession  of  the  roll.  They  had  but  twenty 
cents  on  hand,  and  with  this  amount  they  went  into  the  shop  and 
bought  a  small  piece  of  leather.  This  gave  them  the  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  interior.  Then  they  left  the  shop,  and 
Murphy  threw  the  piece  of  leather  over  a  fence  on  Pond  street. 
The  payment  of  twenty  cents,  of  course,  did  not  call  upon  Mr. 
Irons  to  exhibit  his  "roll."  So  the  next  thing  was  to  get  a  look 
at  that  wad  of  money.  "We  must  get  a  bill,"  remarked 
Murphy,  and  the  couple  procured  a  five-dollar  bill  and  went  to 
the  shop  to  have  it  changed.  It  happened  that  another  person 
was  also  there  having  a  five-dollar  bill  changed,  so  that  the  two 


492  OUR   POLICE. 

ruflSans  had  no  trouble  about  obtaining  a  view  of  Mr.  Irons* 
wallet  and  its  contents.  Then  the  pair  of  outlaws  reconnoitered 
to  ascertain  when  they  would  be  most  likely  to  find  Mr.  Irons 
alone.  They  concluded  that  early  afternoon  was  the  most  prom- 
ising time  for  their  operations.  They  started  about  noon  of 
August  24th  from  the  house,  No.  132  South  street,  for  Mr.  Irons* 
shop.  The  presence  of  a  woipan  (Mrs.  Adeline  M.  Angell)  who 
was  waiting  near  the  store,  caused  them  to  delay  operations  for 
some  time,  and  Hackett  was  in  favor  of  relinquishing  the  attempt. 
Murphy,  however,  was  determined  on  the  robbery,  and,  urging 
Hackett  to  "come  on,"  he  entered  the  store.  Murphy  asked  to 
see  some  leather.  Mr.  Irons  replied  that  he  did  not  want  to  take 
the  leather  down  unless  they  meant  to  buy.  Murphy  replied 
that  they  did  want  to  buy.  As  the  old  man  turned  to  take  down 
the  leather,  Murphy  seized  him  and  pushed  him  into  the  back 
part  of  the  shop.  Mr.  Irons  made  a  desperate  and  unexpected 
resistance.  Murphy  threw  him  down,  jammed  a  side  of  lealf^aer 
over  his  head  and  face,  and  crushed  him  with  his  knees.  The 
aged  victim  ceased  to  struggle,  and,  with  a  parting  kick  at  the 
prostrate  form,  Murphy  darted  after  Hackett  into  the  street. 
"When  Mr.  Irons  was  pushed  down  his  wallet  fell  out  in  the 
struggle,  and  Hackett  picked  it  up.  The  pair  turned  into 
Summer  street,  and  went  back  to  the  house  on  South  street. 
After  drinking  they  started  for  Atwell's  avenue,  spent  some  time 
at  a  liquor  shop  kept  by  a  person  of  notoriety,  and  then  went 
back  to  South  street,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  the 
night.  The  money,  forty -three  dollars,  robbed  from  Mr.  Irons, 
was  equally  divided.  In  the  morning  they  learned  of  the  death 
of  their  victim.  This  determined  them  to  leave  the  city,  and 
they  were  on  their  way  to  the  railway  station  when  overtaken  by 
Detective  Parker  and  Lieutenant  Rankin,  Murphy  being  for  the 
moment,  as  related  above,  separated  from  Hackett.  Such  is  the 
confession  said  to  have  been  made  by  Hackett  to  his  intimates, 
when  seeking  the  means  to  evade  Rhode  Island  justice.  He  is 
understood  to  have  obtained  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  dol- 
lars to  enable  him  to  escape.     He  at  once  departed. 

To  Detective  Parker,  Murphy,  when  arrested,  gave  the  name 


OUR    POLICE.  493 

of  James  Murray.  He  denied  knowing  Peter  Hackett,  and 
denied  any  part  in  the  killing  of  Waterman  Irons.  On  his 
person  was  found  a  pocket-kook  containing  postage  stamps  and 
various  receipts  in  the  name  of  James  Murray,  and  a  pawn-ticket 
in  the  name  of  Shea.  The  police  came  to  the  conclusion  that, 
apart  from  the  Irons  murder,  they  had  an  important  prisoner, 
and  no  diligence  was  spared  in  searching  out  his  previous  career. 
Standing  six  feet  one  inch  high,  of  build  in  proportion,  and  with 
regular  well-formed  features.  Murphy  is  physically  a  fine  speci- 
men of  Irish- American  youth.  But  nineteen  years  of  age,  he 
drifted  into  ruffian  habits,  and  from  ruffianism  into  serious  crime. 
He  had  already  been  convicted  of  stealing  at  Norwich,  Connec- 
ticut, where  his  family  reside,  and,  while  serving  a  penalty  for 
ferocious  resistance  to  an  officer,  escaped  from  jail.  It  was  under 
these  circumstances  that  he  drifted  to  Boston,  and  from  Boston 
to  Providence,  and  encountering  a  kindred  spirit  in  the  notorious 
Hackett,  essayed  the  crime  which  has  resulted  in  shutting  him 
out  forever  from  the  world  of  his  fellow-men.  He  probably  did 
not  intend  to  kill  Mr.  Irons,  but  he  evidently  resolved  to  silence 
his  victim  at  any  hazard,  and  his  brutality  proved  fatal  to  the 
venerable  merchant. 

Detective  Parker,  with  the  industrious  and  effective  co-opera- 
tion of  Detectives  Swan  and  Murray,  weaved  a  net  of  circumstan- 
tial evidence  around  the  prisoner  from  which  there  could  be  no 
escape.  They  were  not  aware  of  the  confession  made  b^  Hackett. 
That  was  carefully  guarded  by  the  fugitive's  intimates.  But  it 
is  an  interesting  fact  and  highly  creditable  to  the  police,  that  the 
case  as  demonstrated  in  a  chain  of  circumstances  by  the  govern- 
ment, coincided  with  absolute  accuracy,  with  the  story  as  revealed 
by  one  of  the  criminals.  Murphy  and  Hackett  were  traced  in 
all  their  movements  by  reliable  testimony.  It  was  shown  that, 
when  they  left  the  house  of  Elizabeth  Slade,  on  South  street, 
about  half-past  eleven,  on  the  day  of  the  murder,  Hackett  said  to 
Murphy:  "What's  the  matter  with  striking  that  boodle?" 
Murphy  replied :  "  It's  a  go !"  Then  they  went  out.  When 
they  returned,  later  in  the  day,  Hackett  had  a  roll  of  money. 
Mrs.  Adeline  M.  Angell  was  the  woman  whose  presence  near  the 


494  OUR   POLICE. 

shop  of  Mr.  Irons  delayed  and  troubled  the  two  men  bent  upon 
robbing  him.  No  amount  of  cross-examination  could  shake  her 
clear  and  positive  identification  of  Murphy.  "  That  is  him,"  she 
said,  pointing  from  the  witness-stand.  "  I  sat  on  some  steps 
nearer  Summer  street  than  the  store;  the  steps  were  on  the 
building  next  to  Mr.  Irons's  building,  that  I  sat  upon ;  I  got  up 
from  the  steps  and  went  in  front  of  Mr.  Irons'  store,  and  looked 
into  the  store  and  I  saw  Mr.  Irons  showing  them  some  leather. 
When  I  saw  the  men  go  in  I  was  looking  down  towards  the  store. 
The  large  man  asked  to  see  some  leather.  When  Mr.  Irons  said 
he  did  not  want  to  get  the  leather  down  unless  they  wanted  to 
buy,  the  large  man  said  he  did  want  to  buy.  The  largest  man 
had  on  a  dark  coat  and  a  brown  hat  (hat  produced).  It  was  a 
hat  like  the  one  produced.  I  did  not  notice  his  other  clothing. 
This  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  left  the  curbstone 
when  my  boy  came  along,  and  then  I  started  to  go  home  with 
him.  He  had  been  doing  an  errand  for  me.  I  noticed  a  pecu- 
liarity about  the  large  man ;  it  was  the  way  he  walked ;  I  saw 
his  face,  and  I  am  positive  this  man  in  court  is  the  man.  The 
peculiarity  of  his  walk  was  that  he  threw  back  his  shoulders  simi- 
lar to  a  sailor's  gait."  Mrs.  Emma  E.  Durfee  also  saw  Murphy 
in  the  store  of  Mr.  Irons  on  the  day  of  the  tragedy.  Mr.  Lewis 
W.  Anthony  identified  the  defendant  as  one  of  the  two  men,  one 
of  whom  tapped  on  Mr.  Irons'  window,  on  the  fatal  afternoon. 
Mr.  Benjamin  Greene  identified  the  defendant  and  a  man  who 
looked  like  Peter  Hackett's  picture  as  having  been  in  Irons' 
store  pricing  leather.  Irons,  after  the  assault,  compared  one  of 
his  assailants  in  size  to  Police  Captain  Marston,  and  Captain 
Marston  stands  six  feet  high  and  weighs  over  two  hundred 
pounds.  Miss  Amelia  A.  Ross  recognized  Mrs.  Durfee  as  having 
been  in  the  neighborhood  about  the  time  of  the  assault.  The 
defence  was  substantially  Murphy's  own  denial  of  guilt,  and  un- 
supported assertion  of  an  alibi.  George  J.  West,  Esq.,  one  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  at  the  Rhode  Island  bar,  made  the  best  plea 
possible  for  his  client.  Attorney-General  Horatio  Rogers  con- 
ducted the  prosecution.  Murphy  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
State  Prison  for  life. 


OUR  POLICB.  495 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

PBOVIDENCE  AN  UNLUCKY  CITY  FOR  BANK  DEFAULTERS. — BROUGHT 
TO  PUNISHMENT  IN  NEARLY  ALL  DETECTED  INSTANCES. — ^THB 
CASE  OF  CHARLES  A.  PITCHER. — SUCH  INSTANCES  SHOULD  NOT 
REFLECT  ON  BANK  EMPLOYES  IN  GENERAL. — PITCHER'S  EIGH- 
TEEN   YEARS    OF    HONORABLE    SERVICE. — HE    GIVES  WAY  TO 

TEMPTATION. — ROBS  THE  UNION  BANK  OF  NEARLY  $700,000. 

CAPTURED  IN  CANADA  THROUGH  THE  PROMPT  ACTION  OF  THB 
PROVIDENCE  POLICE. — HIS  EXAMINATION,  TRIAL  AND  CONVIC- 
TION.— ^A  WHOLESOME   EXAMPLE. — "OUR   POLICE." 

In  view  of  the  important  banking  interests  of  our  city,  it  is 
worthy  oi  note  that  nearly  all  of  the  detected  bank  defaulters 
have  been  brought  to  punishment.  Some  of  them  served  terms 
of  sentence,  and  are  struggling  honestly  and  earnestly  to  regain 
the  confidence  they  forfeited.  It  is  hardly  a  palliation  of  their 
offences  to  say  that  they  embezzled  with  the  intention  of  return- 
ing the  amounts  abstracted.  But  such  intent  places  them  in  a 
very  different  light  from  Charles  A.  Pitcher,  who  deliberately 
swept  clean  of  assets  the  institution  which,  for  many  years,  had 
given  him  the  opportunity  to  earn  a  respectable  living.  That, 
after  eighteen  years  of  steady  and  faithful  work  a  bank  employ^ 
should  suddenly  become  a  robber  and  forger,  belying  the  ancient 
proverb  about  the  gradual  approach  to  the  worst  degree  of  turpi- 
tude, that  he  should  assume  the  attitude  of  the  reckless  criminal, 
and  glory  in  the  extent  of  his  crime,  instead  of  expressing  at 
least  some  regret,  or  offering  some  excuse  for  the  injury  he  had 
wrought,  is  more  than  amazing.  It  is  no  reflection  upon  the 
church  that  Pitcher  was  a  treasurer  of  a  church,  or  upon  bank 
tellers  that  he  was  a  bank  teller.  It  is  because  members  of  the 
church  are,  as  a  rule,  honest  and  faithful  to  trust,  that  people  are 
surprised  when  an  exception  occurs ;  it  is  because  for  every  un- 
faithful bank  teller  there  are  so  many  thousands  who  are  proof 


496  OUE    POLICE. 

against  every  temptation,  that  a  crime  like  that  of  Pitcher  excites 
a  widespread  sensation,  and  hums  through  every  wire  from  San 
Diego  to.  Halifax.  Those  who  sneer  at  the  church  because  a 
church-member  forgets  his  duty  and  betrays  his  pledge  only  indi- 
cate their  own  depravity;  those  who  criticise  bank  clerks  in 
general  when  one  happens  to  forfeit  honor  for  fleeting  gain  only 
call  striking  attention  to  their  own  jealousy  of  a  class  of  men  of 
whose  superiority  they  are  conscious,  and  whose  reputation  for 
integrity  they  are  hopeless  of  ever  rivalling.  It  is  always  safe  to 
beware  of  the  man  or  woman  who,  without  some  special  and  rea- 
sonable provocation  rejoices  over  the  downfall  of  another. 

Charles  A.  Pitcher  is  a  native  of  Providence,  and  forty-five 
years  of  age.  He  had  an  education  in  the  city  schools,  and  went 
into  one  of  the  national  banks,  where  he  grew  up.  He  obtained 
a  position  in  the  Union  Bank  in  1871,  and  step  by  step  rose  to  a 
salary  of  $2,000  a  year  as  teller. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  June  23,  the  teller  of  eighteen 
years'  honorable  service,  the  citizen  who  could  hold  his  head  as 
high  as  any  man  in  Providence,  the  treasurer  of  a  church,  and 
living  example  for  other  young  men  aspiring  to  lives  of  respecta- 
bility and  comparative  success,  stood  at  his  desk  in  the  Unioa 
Bank.  All  had  departed  but  himself.  He  lingered.  What  was 
he  about?  What  motive  detained  him  from  going  forth,  as  he 
had  done  every  Saturday  for  many  a  rolling  year,  to  his  home 
and  his  family,  an  honest  man  among  honest  men  ? 

Temptation  was  at  work — the  temptation  to  become  suddenly 
rich  by  one  grand  eowp  that  should  eclipse  all  former  bank  rob- 
beries, prostrate  his  employers  at  his  mercy,  and  enable  him  to 
live  in  luxury  far  away  from  his  native  city,  far  away  from  the 
echo  of  his  infamy,  from  the  sorrowing  brows  of  his  kindred,  and 
the  reproaches  of  those  whose  trust  he  had  violated.  It  was  a 
supreme  moment.  A  step  to  the  door — a  draught  of  the  clear, 
fresh  air  of  that  June  afternoon,  and  he  was  free — free  from  the 
tempter,  free  from  crime,  free  from  the  load  that,  like  the  old  man 
of  the  sea,  would  ride  him  to  a  miserable  death.  He  hesitates — 
there  is  the  door — there  is  the  safe — the  iron  chest  containing 
wealth  to  him  enormous,  wealth  that  he  could  vainly  hope  to  earn, 


OUR   POLICE.  497 

however  assiduous  to  his  daily  round  of  duty  and  of  labor.  Ah ! 
He  has  often  looked  with  hungry  eyes  at  that  safe  before — he  has 
often  contemplated  the  crime  he  is  now  tempted  to  commit,  but 
his  hands  are  yet  spotless :  he  is  yet  innocent  in  deed ;  he  might 
yet  remain  innocent,  and,  as  far  as  the  world  might  know,  worthy 
of  the  confidence  which  placed  the  funds  and  securities  of  a  bank 
within  his  grasp. 

He  steps  toward  the  safe.  It  is  open,  for  it  is  his  duty  to  close 
it.  But  he  does  not  close  it.  His  hands  are  extended  toward 
the  securities.  Temptation  has  triumphed.  The  record  of  eigh- 
teen years  is  blotted  out.     The  trusted  teller  is  a  robber. 

Half  an  hour  later  Charles  A.  Pitcher  goes  forth  into  the 
street.  He  carries  a  covered  basket,  which,  to  the  casual  eye, 
might  appear  to  contain  the  roast  for  a  Sunday  dinner,  or  maybe 
a  present  to  gladden  a  waiting  heart  at  home.  Old  acquaintances 
pass  him.  They  nod  readily  and  courteously,  for  the  teller  is  a 
popular  man,  with  a  pleasant  face  and  a  winning  smile,  and  if  the 
smile  is  now  a  trifle  strained  they  do  not  perceive  it,  or,  if  they 
do,  they  know  it  is  Saturday  afternoon,  and  that  a  week's  toil, 
even  in  a  bank,  is  likely  to  be  wearisome.  What  thoughts  hurry 
through  the  criminal's  mind !  Now  he  begins  to  measure  the 
width  of  the  bottomless  gulf  which  separates  him  from  honest 
men,  from  the  associations  he  had  prized,  from  all  that  removes 
life  above  a  brutal  munching  for  mere  existence.  To  others  that 
gulf  is  yet  invisible ;  but  he  knows  that  knowledge  cannot  long 
be  delayed ;  that,  in  a  day  or  two  at  the  furthest,  his  name  will 
be  a  synonym  of  infamy.  Already  he  feels  the  grip  of  an  officer, 
and  glances  furtively  at  the  patrolmen  measuring  their  beats  in 
the  busy  heart  of  Providence  trade  and  industry. 

But  he  has  cast  the  die,  and  the  plans  laid  must  be  carried  out. 
He  accosts  a  boy  near  Turk's  Head,  and  asks  him  to  hold  his 
basket  for  a  few  moments.  The  youth  complies,  and  Pitcher 
hastens  to  the  post  office  to  mail  the  stolen  securities.  The  boy 
notices  that  the  basket  is  heavy,  but  does  not  give  a  second 
thought  to  the  incident,  when  he  returns  the  basket  to  Pitcher. 

Charles  Collins,  16  years  of  age,  clerk  in  the  Providence  & 
Worcester  Railroad  Auditor's  office,  was  standing  near  the  5:45 


498  OUR   POLICE. 

o'clock  Worcester  train.  The  train  had  begun  to  move  out  of 
the  station  slowly,  when  a  man  hurredly  approached  the  young 
clerk,  and  requested  him  to  carry  a  note  addressed  to  Mrs.  Pitcher. 
The  young  man  hesitated  a  moment,  and  Pitcher — for  it  was  he — 
said:  "It  is  very  important,"  at  the  same  time  handing  the 
youth  two  dollars.  He  took  the  note,  whiclv  heralded  the  down- 
fall of  a  hitherto  trusted  citizen,  to  its  destination.  Pitcher  and 
his  basket  had  barely  time  to  catch  the  train,  which  was  boarded 
while  in  motion.  Young  Collins  was  impressed  with  the  manner 
of  the  man,  and  delivered  the  note  at  once. 

On  Monday  morning,  Mr.  J.  C.  Johnson,  cashier  of  the  bank, 
arrived  from  Narragansett  Pier.  The  diiFerence  between  the 
situation  on  Saturday  and  Monday  is  best  explained  in  Mr. 
Johnson's  own  words :  "  On  Saturday,  June  23,  I  left  the  bank 
at  twenty  minutes  before  four  in  the  afternoon,  to  go  to  the  station 
to  take  the  train  for  Narragansett  Pier,  where  I  was  to  spend 
Sunday  at  the  invitation  of  a  friend.  I  left  Pitcher  and  the 
bookkeeper  in  the  bank,  the  vault  being  locked,  and  the  letters 
that  I  had  written  that  day  left  to  be  posted  by  the  teller.  At 
the  time  I  left  the  bank  there  were  promissory  notes  and  accep- 
tances known  as  bills  receivable,  paper  money  $13,405,  checks  on 
Providence  banks  and  bankers  some  $2,489.  There  was  also 
$2,750  in  gold  and  silver,  the  silver  being  in  the  vault  and  not 
in  the  safe.  There  were  also  three  books  in  the  safe,  one  con- 
taining checks  on  the  Union  Bank,  signed  *  J.  C.  Johnson, 
cashier,  pay  to  the  order  of  myself  or  C.  A.  Pitcher,  teller.* 
There  were  fifteen  checks  signed  in  that  way,  that  had  not 
been  used  up  to  the  time  I  left  the  bank  that  Saturday.  The 
dates  were  not  filled  in;  the  amounts  were  not  written  up. 
There  was  also  another  check  book  containing  checks  on  Traders* 
National  Bank,  New  York,  in  which  there  were  four  blank  checks, 
signed  the  same  as  in  others.  There-  was  another  book  in 
the  vault  with  checks  signed  on  the  Maverick  National  Bank.  I 
returned  from  Narragansett  Pier  reaching  the  bank  on  Monday 
morning,  June  25,  at  about  9  o'clock.  I  found  the  bookkeeper 
in  the  room.  Pitcher  was  absent,  the  vault  door  apparently  locked. 
I  went  to  the  vault  to  work  the  combination,  but  soon  found  that 


OUR   POLICE.  499 

one  half  turn  of  the  knob  thereof  was  quite  sufficient  to  relieve 
the  bolt.  I  immediately  put  back  the  bolt  and  opened  the  door, 
then  opened  the  inside  gate  of  the  vault,  then  opened  the  safe 
and  took  out  the  tills  and  found  them  empty,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  memoranda,  some  silver  and  one  check  on  a  Providence 
bank  for  $140.  I  found  that  all  the  gold,  notes  and  bills  receiva- 
ble had  been  stolen,  also  demand  notes  on  the  face  of  which  were 
pledges  of  cotton,  and  warehouse  receipts  for  same.  The  bank 
bills  that  were  left  there  on  Saturday  had  been  stolen.  I  also 
discovered  that  the  checks  before  mentioned  had  been  stolen ; 
also,  that  nine  checks  on  the  Union  Bank  were  gone.  I  dis- 
covered that  two  checks  drawn  on  the  Maverick  National  Bank 
were  not  satisfactorily  accounted  for.  The  very  fact  of  my 
being  able  to  draw  back  the  bolt  of  the  vault  doors  without  using 
the  combination  of  the  lock  showed  that  the  lock  had  been  tam- 
pered with,  and  on  close  inspection  I  found  the  key  of  the  box 
which  contained  the  lock  had  been  stolen.  On  further  examina- 
tion I  saw  that  the  outside  casing  of  the  lock  had  been  taken  off, 
and  the  tumblers  taken  off.  I  also  found  that  a  duplicate  key  to 
my  desk  had  been  stolen.  If  we  had  not  been  able  to  open  the 
vault  at  that  time,  it  would  have  been  necessary  to  employ  the 
services  of  an  expert  to  cut  open  the  door  or  that  portion  con- 
taining the  lock.  In  this  case  we  would  then  have  been  debarred 
from  reaching  the  inside  of  the  vault  for  some  twenty-four  hours 
or  later.  Pitcher  had  the  combination  of  the  lock  on  the  vault 
and  safe  doors.  No  one  else  except  myself  knew  what  those 
combinations  were.  Our  safe  was  made  by  the  Corliss  Safe 
Company,  was  oval  shaped  behind  and  flat  in  front.  It  weighed 
three  or  four  tons.'* 

Pitcher  had  cleaned  out  the  bank.  The  notes  which  he  could 
not  negotiate  he  had  evidently  stolen  with  the  purpose  of  com- 
pelling a  compromise.  The  valuables  taken  included  $1,372, 
nearly  all  of  which  was  in  gold,  the  balance  in  silver ;  $18,405 
in  greenbacks  and  bank  bills,  and  $483,585  in  bills  receivable. 
Before  Pitcher  went  away  he  also  took  some  fourteen  or  fifteen 
cashier's  blanks,  and  filled  them  out  in  sums  aggregating  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  $150,000.     These  he  sent  to  various  cities,  and  an- 


600  OUR   POLICE. 

ticipated  realizing  on  them  all.  In  this,  it  is  claimed,  he  com- 
mitted forgery.  In  all  Pitcher  carried  off  about  $600,000,  in 
checks,  money  and  bills  receivable. 

The  Providence  police  were  promptly  on  the  alert,  and  Pitcher 
was  traced  to  Buffalo,  with  a  probability  that  he  would  attempt  to 
take  the  steamer  Parisian,  of  the  Allan  line,  at  Montreal,  for 
Europe.  Detectives  Swan  and  Parker  took  steps,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Chief,  to  cover  New  York,  Montreal,  Boston  and 
Philadelphia,  from  any  of  which  ports  it  was  thought  thatv 
Pitcher  might  attempt  to  sail.  Inspector  Byrnes,  of  New  York 
was  telegraphed  to,  and  promptly  set  his  men  at  work  to  discover 
the  defaulter,  in  the  event  of  his  undertaking  to  take  a  steamer 
at  that  city.  In  Boston  Mr.  Parker  flashed  the  news  over  the 
wires  to  Montreal,  warning  the  Canadian  authorities  to  be  on  the 
lookout,  and  to  this  timely  dispatch  Pitcher's  arrest  was  due.  At 
New  York  Mr.  Parker  consulted  with  Inspector  Byrnes,  and 
then  proceeded  to  Montreal,  where  he  found  that  his  telegram 
had  accomplished  its  object,  and  that  the  fugitive  teller  was 
lodged  in  a  Dominion  prison. 

A  Montreal  officer,  put  on  the  qui  vive  by  the  dispatches  from 
Rhode  Island,  announcing  the  robbery,  and  aroused  by  the  hope 
of  reward  to  activity  unusual,  if  not  unprecedented  in  a  Canadian 
official,  succeeded  in  detecting  and  capturing  Pitcher,  just  as  he 
was  preparing  to  take  an  Allan  steamship  for  Europe.  Pitcher 
had  adopted  the  name  of  "  James  A.  Roberts,"  by  which  he  reg- 
istered at  a  Montreal  hotel,  and  under  which  he  applied  at  the 
Allan  office  at  about  11.30  on  the  morning  of  the  26th,  for  a 
berth  on  the  Parisian,  to  sail  next  morning.  The  very  dexterity 
with  which  he  counted  out  the  gold  to  pay  for  his  passage  con- 
vinced the  watching  officer  that  he  was  the  missing  bank  teller. 
The  officer  waited,  however,  for  Pitcher's  return  to  the  hotel, 
before  taking  him  into  custody. 

"I  arrest  you  in  the  Queen's  name!"  With  these  words 
quietly  uttered,  a  hand  was  laid  on  the  shoulder  of  Charles  R. 
Pitcher.  The  fugitive  lounging  about  to  kill  time  while  waiting 
for  the  steamer  on  the  morrow,  gave  one  quick  look  at  the  man 
who  claimed  him  fbr  a  captive.     Pitcher  breathed  hard  for  a 


OUR  rOLICE.  501 

moment.  Then  he  as  quicklj  recovered  composure,  and  unresist- 
ingly accompanied  the  officer.  He  had  doubtless  heard  of  Ameri- 
can fugitives  arretted  before  in  Canada,  of  their  speedy  release,  and 
he  was  inclined  to  look  upon  the  arrest  at  first  as  a  temporary 
annoyance,  or  rather  as  an  advantageous  opportunity  to  make 
known  his  terms  of  settlement  to  the  bank.  Over  $52,000  was 
found  on  him,  including  102  five  dollar,  fifty  ten  dollar  and  five 
twenty  dollar  gold  pieces,  $38,800  in  bills,  one  bill  of  exchange 
on  a  Paris  bank  for  39,900  francs,  and  one  in  London  for  XI, 000. 
"Where  are  the  bonds  and  papers  belonging  to  the  bank?" — 
asked  the  de  ective.  "  I  have  not  got  them  with  me,"  replied 
Pitcher.  "  I  can  get  them  when  the  time  comes."  Through 
those  notes  he  said,  he  intended  to  make  the  bank  come  to  a 
compromise  with  him.  "  How  much  do  you  expect  the  bank  to 
give  up,  and  what  are  your  terms  ?"  was  asked.  "  I  want 
$150,000,"  returned  Pitcher.  "  I  will  turn  everything  over  if  I 
get  that."  "  How  can  you  get  all  the  papers  if  you  haven't  got 
them  now?"  "By  simply  putting  my  name  to  a  piece  of  paper 
to  a  certain  party  and  the  customers'  notes  and  some  papers 
held  for  a  certain  cotton  company  would  be  turned  over  within  a 
very  few  days."  "  It  is  said  you  got  away  with  about  $500,000," 
remarked  the  detective.  "Well,  it  is  closer  on  to  $700,000," 
replied  Pitcher,  coolly  ;  "  I  took  everything  I  could  carry  except 
about  $1,500  that  was  there  in  silver.  I  only  took  two  or  three 
rolls  of  that  to  pay  my  expenses  on  the  way ;  the  rest  was  too 
heavy."  In  carrying  the  plunder  away,  Pitcher  stated,  he  used 
a  basket.  He  did  not  use  a  valise  because  it  might  arouse  suspi- 
cion. He  said  he  took  the  train  to  Albany,  keeping  his  feet  on 
the  basket  while  on  the  cars.  From  there  he  went  to  Buffalo. 
In  the  latter  place  he  bought  a  bill  of  exchange  on  London  for 
XlOO  in  the  name  of  James  A.  Roberts,  the  name  under  which 
he  travelled. 

Pitcher  was  vigorously  prosecuted  on  the  charge  of  bringing 
stolen  money  into  the  Dominion.  He  engaged  able  counsel,  and 
no  effort  was  spared  in  his  defence.  The  Canadian  method  of 
conducting  a  preliminary  hearing  is  very  slow  and  tedious.  The 
magistrate  before  whom  the  hearing  is  supposed  to  take  place. 


502  OUR  POLICE. 

has  a  clerk  who  takes  down  every  question  and  every  answer  in 
long  hand,  no  stenographic  report  by  law  being  allowed.  Now 
comes  the  singular  part.  The  magistrate  himself  is  not  present 
during  the  hearing  half  the  time.  After  the  inquiry  for  the  day, 
which  is  held  in  some  small  room,  is  started,  His  Highness  cuts 
out  and  goes  around  the  town  attending  to  other  affairs,  leaving 
his  ploddling,  long  hand  clerk  to  manage  the  investigation  alone, 
but  if  any  dispute  should  arise  between  the  lawyers  as  to  the 
relevancy  of  a  question,  or  any  other  point  in  controversy  should 
occur,  the  coufusel  put  on  their  hats  and  go  out  and  hunt  the 
Judge  up,  conducting  their  arguments  in  his  presence  wherever 
he  may  be  and  securing  his  decision  there.  Again  the  magis- 
trate may  be  sent  for,  when  he  will  return  and  sit  with  counsel 
and  witness  till  they  come  to  smooth  sailing,  when  he's  off.  But 
all  things  mortal  come  to  an  end,  and  so  did  the  hearing  in  the 
Canadian  court,  and  Pitcher  was  held  for  trial. 

Pending  the  proceedings  a  cablegram  arrived  from  London  in- 
forming the  Union  Bank  that  several  packages  had  been  received 
at  the  banking  house  of  Messrs.  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co.,  addressed 
to  "James  A.  Roberts."  The  Union  Bank  officials  at  once 
cabled  Messrs.  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co.,  to  open  the  packages  and 
ascertain  their  contents.  Word  was  soon  received  that  the  stolen 
notes  were  in  the  packages.  The  bank  after  ascertaining  that 
none  of  the  notes  were  missing,  cabled  to  London  to  have  the 
notes  forwarded  at  once  to  this  city.  All  the  packages  sent  to. 
London  were  mailed  through  the  Providence  post  office  on  the 
day  that  Pitcher  left  Providence.  The  packages  were  duly  re- 
turned, and  proved  to  contain  all  the  securities  stolen  by  Pitcher, 
and  on  the  return  of  which  he  had  depended  to  force  the  bank  to 
a  compromise.  This  took  away  the  robber's  last  hope.  To  make 
assurance  doubly  sure,  however,  the  Rhode  Island  authorities  and 
the  bank  also  took  steps  to  have  a  warrant  sworn  out  for  Pitcher's 
extradition  on  the  charge  of  forgery,  in  case  he  should,  through 
some  technicality,  escape  on  the  other  complaint  of  bringing 
stolen  money  into  the  Dominion.  The  forgery  charge  is  based  on 
the  filling  out  and  issuance  of  cashier's  blanks  by  Pitcher,  before 
leaving  this  city.     According  to  the  existing  treaty  between  the 


OUR   POLICE.  503 

United  states  and  Canada  a  person  guilty  of  forgery  can  be  taken 
from  the  Dominion  into  the  States  and  punished.  There  was  a 
case  decided  about  a  year  ago,  in  which  a  book-keeper  employed 
in  a  banking  institution  at  Peoria,  111.,  filled  out  blank  checks 
over  the  signature  of  the  cashier.  These  blank  drafts  were 
signed  by  the  cashier  and  left  in  the  bank,  the  amounts  to  be 
filled  in  by  the  teller  or  the  book-keeper,  as  they  were  empowered 
to  do,  as  the  demands  of  business  might  require,  in  the  drawer's 
absence.  This  book- keeper  filled  out  a  number  of  these  blank 
checks  for  various  amounts  and  started  for  Dominion  soil.  He 
was  arrested  in  Canada ;  he  was  followed  and  apprehended  by 
United  States  officers ;  he  was  committed,  brought  before  a  high 
court  on  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  court  decided  that  the 
prisoner  had  been  guilty  of  forgery.  Under  the  treaty  he  was 
taken  back  to  Illinois,  underwent  trial  for  his  crimes  of  embezzle- 
ment and  false  utterance  of  negotiable  paper,  and  is  now  serving 
out  a  term  of  imprisonment  in  the  State  where  his  offence  was 
committed. 

On  being  brought  up  for  trial  in  the  higher  court,  Pitcher  had 
lost  the  jaunty,  indifferent  air  which  characterized  him  during  the 
examination  before  the  magistrate.  He  looked  thoroughly 
miserable  and  dejected,  and  with  lack-lustre  eyes  and  hollow 
cheeks  he  was  taken,  handcuffed  to  a  murderer,  to  plead  to  the 
indictment.  The  excuse  of  sickness  saved  him  from  the  ignominy 
of  standing  in  the  dock  from  which  so  many  wretches  had  gone 
forth  to  a  felon's  doom.  He  evidently  had  become  convinced,  in 
the  solitude  of  his  cell,  of  the  folly  as  well  as  the  wickedness  of 
his  crime ;  his  intense  mental  suffering  was  manifest,  and  earthly 
penalties  could  do  but  little  more  to  punish  Charles  A.  Pitcher. 

British  and  Canadian  Courts  are  not  slow  in  arriving  at  results. 
Every  step  of  the  prosecution  was  ably  and  tenaciously  resisted 
by  Pitcher's  counsel;  but  the  jury  only  deliberated  ten  minutes, 
before  bringing  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  a  verdict  which  doomed  the 
robber  of  the  Union  Bank  to  seven  years  in  a  Canadian  prison. 
The  result  is  not  so  important  in  Pitcher's  particular  case,  as  it 
is  important  to  the  general  banking  interests  af  America.  For 
the   first   time   a   faithless   bank   official    has   found   a    prison, 


504  OUR   POLICE. 

instead  of  a  mansion,  in  Canada.  For  the  first  time  American 
criminals  of  the  Pitcher  class  have  been  notified  that,  if  found  in 
Canada  with  stolen  property  upon  them,  they  will  be  punished, 
not  welcomed.  It  is  true  that  others  may  imitate  Pitcher's 
crime,  without  adopting  his  folly,  but  his  fate,  nevertheless,  is  an 
example  that  cannot  fail  to  make  a  most  wholesome  impression. 

All  in  all,  on  a  broad  view  of  the  field,  there  is  but  little 
encouragement  for  the  criminal  in  Providence.  Honesty  is  de- 
cidedly the  best  policy  here,  and  the  lawbreaker  finds  that  the  old 
motto — "  The  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard  " — which  used  to 
stare  at  the  visitor  to  the  old  prison  across  the  Cove,  has  meaning 
and  force  in  these  plantations.  Accomplished  criminals,  who 
plundered  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean,  have  found  that  Rhode 
Island  laws,  humane  and  liberal  as  they  are,  may  not  be  lightly 
defied.  That  such  is  the  condition  of  things  in  our  great  little 
State,  "the  eye  to  the  elephant"  of  the  Union,  as  Tristam 
Burges  callea  it,  that  life  and  property  are  secure,  that  crime  is 
punished,  and  the  laws  are  vindicated,  is  largely,  if  not  mainly, 
due,  as  every  fair  minded  person  will  acknowledge,  to  the  fidelity 
and  vigilauce  of  "  Our  Police." 


ROSTER  OF  THE  FORCE. 


.A. 

Name.  Date  of  Appointment.  Station. 

Ahern,  James,  Jr March  3,  1887 3 

Allen,  Hiram September  16,  1880 5 

Allen,  Lewis  L .July  22,  1870 6 

Arnold,  Joseph  A July  28,  1879 3 

Arnold,  Timothy  J Apiil  25,  1877 6 

Arnold,  Warren  B August  16,  1871 4 

Ash,  James September  25, 1877 3 

B 

Baird,  Charles  B June  11,  1866 ^ 1 

Baker,  Edward  W May  22,  1873 2 

Baker,  Otis  W June  26,  1874 4 

Baker,  Reuben  R.,  Captain February  1,  1875 6 

Bennett,  Le  Roy  T ...July  28,  1879 1 

Blanding,  Stephen  F.,  Property  Clerk September  7,  1868 C.  H. 

Blood,  Chester  H :..November  17, 1879 1 

Blood,  Herbert  C April  9,  1880 3 

Boss,  George  W August  3,  1876 2 

Boss,  Joseph  R.,  Sergeant February  3, 1875 „ 2 

Bowen,  George  W August  29,  1871 6 

Bowen,  William  E September  1, 1881 5 

Bradbury,  William September  16,  1880 5 

Brahany,  Owen  E c March  8,1883.. 5 

Brown,  Hartley  W May  16,  1874 3 

Brown,  John  T.,  Deputy-Chief. July  10,  1871 C.  H. 

Burlingame,  Ezra  A January  14,  1886 3 

o 

Campbell,  Frank  E.  H May  5, 1884 1 

Cannon,  Peter  B October  15,  1885 ^ 6 

Carey,  John  J January  14,  1886 3 


606  ROSTER   OF   THE   FORCE. 

Name.  Pate  of  Appointment.  Station 

Chace,  Benjamin  G March  3, 1887 2 

Chace,  William  W July  12, 1883 6 

Charnley,  Alexander June  22,  1874 4 

Child,  Benjamin  H.,  Chief. May],  18G8 C.  H. 

Clark,  George  A November  5, 1885 4 

Clark,  Richard  A February  8,  1876 1 

Cobb,  George  N January  28, 1879 6 

Collins,  George  A.  H June  29,  1874 6 

Colton,  John  H March  19,  18S5 1 

Colwell,  Daniel  T October  11,  1866 4 

Costine,  Jeremiah,  Captain April  28,1875 3 

Cook,  George  E January  14,  1886 3 

Cory,  Charles  W March  3,  1887 6 

Cory,  William  H.,  Captain October  13,  1866 1 

Cronin,  William  H October  20,  1887 6 

Curtis,  Joseph  B January  26,  1865 1 

3D 

Daggett,  Charles  A « April  5,  1883 4 

Dailey,  Eugene. September  10,  1883 1 

Daniels,  Frederick  A November  17, 1879 4 

Dary,  George  H.,  Lieutenant. June  30,  1874 3 

Doe,  Eldin  W March  18, 1881 3 

Dolan,  William March  15,1888 3 

Duffy,  Peter  F August  2,  1883 6 

Dunlavey,  Francis  E November  5,  1885 4 

Dunn,  Cornelius  J October  4,*1888 4 

Dyer,  John  N March  5,  1885 6 

Egan,  Patrick,  Captain « November  9,  1868 2 

IF 

Feeney,  James  F October  4,  1888 2 

Feeley,  James March  20,  1884 3 

Feeley,  John  R October  29,  1888 1 

Ferguson,  William  H January  18,  1883 4 

Fitzpatrick,  Mathew  F May  17, 1883 d 

Flagg,  Milo  B « April  30, 1888 » 

Flynn,  James  A November  5, 1885 4 


ROSTER   OF  THE  FORCB.  507 

Name.  Bate  of  Appointment.  Station. 

nynn,  Joseph  N ^ October  20, 1887 ^ 2 

Fort,  Charles  E May  4,  1874 1 

Foye,  Welcome  U November  17, 1879 6 

Fuller,  Varnum ^ September  7, 1868 «...  4 

C3- 

Gale,  William  H March  8, 1883 « 1 

Gallagher,  John April  30,  1888 ^ 5 

Gardiner,  William „.. .April  5,1876 1 

Gates,  Alfred  H January  8,  1873 2 

Gifford,  Ralph  E March  1,  1888 6 

Gilfoil,  William October  29,  1888 4 

Gilmartin,  Peter  F April  30,  1888 3 

Gorey,  Charles  B „ April  2,  1885 4 

Gormley,  John  B .June  5, 1882. 6 

Grant,  Allen  F November  14, 1877 » 1 

Greene,  Duty  J March  31, 1877 1 

Grover,  Anson  M July  6,  1882 6 

Grover,  George  H March  8, 1883 «...  8 

Handy,  Edward  E. « May  19,  1887 • 

Hanniford,  Edward October  15, 1885 6 

Hannon,  Marcelle January  14,  1886 6 

Hart,  Hiram June  14, 1858 4 

Hartnett,  John  B January  14,  1886 2 

Harvey,  Thomas December  29, 1875 » 3 

Hayden,  William  F January  21,  1881 2 

Healey,  Peter  H December  13, 1883 «...  4 

Hewitt,  Elwin  E -April  20, 1880 4 

Holloway,  Theodore  R „ December  20,  1872 « 6 

Horton,  Constance  S.,  Sergeant January  17, 1877 1 

Horton,  Seth  L.,  Clerk  to  Chief. June  29,  1867 ~C.  H. 

Hunt,  Birtwell  M June  14, 1888 3 

Hurley,  Daniel  E July  6, 1882 « 2 

J- 

Jacobs,  Thomas  W « November  3,  1881 1 

Jenne,  Harvey  E ~ November  18, 1881 2 


508  ROSTER   OP  THE  FORCE. 

Name.  Bate  of  Appointment.  Station. 

Johnson,  Ira  C March  19,  1885 2 

Jones,  Edwin  R.,  Warrant  Officer August  15,  1864 C.  H, 

Jordan,  Walter  E November  5, 1885 3 

Kavanagh,  Thomas  F April  30, 1888 4 

Keach,  Alfred  S July  6,  1882 1 

Kennedy,  Andrew  J June  t?,  1874 4 

Kent,  William  A July  28,  1879 2 

King,  Owen April  30,  1888 4 

Knowles,  Alfred  H Januarys,  1874 5 

L 

Lapham,  George  B August  24, 1871 3 

Lawrence,  William  H.,  Sergeant October  14,  1875 3 

Leavitt,  William  H.,  Lieutenant May  18, 1874 6 

Lewis,  George  F November  1,  1883 4 

Livsey,  John  B December  22,  1864 5 

Long,  Isaiah,  Jr.,  Warrant  Officer June  8,  1874 C.  H. 

Longfellow,  Jefferson  G ....April  30, 1885 1 

Luby,  Frank  H March  3,  1887 2 

Lyons,  John  F October  29, 1888- 3 

McCann,  James  M October  21, 1886 2 

McCusker,  Hugh  F October  15, 1885 6 

McGuinness,  John  B June  5,  1882 1 

McGinness,  Joseph December  11,  1884 4 

McGuire,  Patrick June  2,  1887 2 

McKenzie,  Murdock  C May  6,  1886 2 

McKenzie,  William October  4,  1888 5 

Magill,  P.  J.,  Lieutenant July  1,  1874 4 

Madden,  Michael November  27, 1874 2 

Marston.  Joseph,  Captain.. August  12, 1864 4 

Martin,  Andrew  P June  8,  1880 1 

Martin,  Frank  L January  19, 1882 1 

Mathewson,  John  F July  6, 1882 1 

Matthews,  F.  A.,  Sergeant November  18, 1880 4 

Mayno,  Charles January  31,  1884 5 


ROSTER   OF   THE   FORCE.  609 

Name.  Date  of  Appointment.  Station. 

Merrill,  Silas  L.  W October  21,  1886 I 

Miller,  Fiauk  M May  6,  1880 2 

Morse,  Henry  F.. January  4,  1886 4 

Morton,  Frank  H February  18,  1884 1 

Mowry,  Albert  Frank,  Sergeant.... July  6,  1882 1 

Muldyan,  John  F September  27,  1886 3 

Munroe,  Edmund  J January  14,  1876. 1 

Munro,  William  A March  26,  1873 4 

Murray,  John  A.,  Detective June  6, 1864. C.  H. 

Nicholas,  Benjamin  F May  5,  1884 5 

Kickerson,  Albert  E January  21,  1881 1 

Nickerson,  Joshua  A September  20, 1886 3 

Norcross,  George  H.,  Supt.  of  Hacks October  1,  1886 C.  H. 

Nye,  George  F September  16, 1880.. 2 

o 

O'Brien,  William  A November  5, 1835 4 

O'C.  nnor,  David  F April  30,  188/.« 6 

O'Xeil,  Edward,  Lieutenant November  17,  1874 2 

O'Rourke,  John  H April  30,  18S8 2 

O'Sullivan,  James April  24,  1875 5 

Ordway,  George  E June  1,  1830 5 

IP 

Parker,  P.,  Detective May  1,  1874 C.  H. 

Payne,  Benjamin  F.,  Captain March  28,  1868 5 

Pierce,  Hart  B August  3,  1880 6 

Place,  Henry  H January  18,  1883 4 

Poinier,  John  W March  12,  1880 1 

Poland,  Oscar  W February  2,  1888 5 

Potter,  Willet  L September  27,  1886 6 

Prout,  Joseph  A June  18,  1874., 5 

Kankin,  Frederick  A.,  Lieutenant ,.  November  16, 1874 1 

Reaves,  George  A June  16,  1S80 - 1 

Eeed,  Frederick  E. June  22, 1875., 1 


510  ROSTER   OF  THE  FORCE. 

Kame.  I>ate  of  Appointment  S^attoxL 

Reynold's  Michael May  6,  1886 4 

Robbies,  Hugh  D October  21, 1886 3 

Robinson,  Chandler  B November  5,  1885 6 

Rowe,  William  H.,  Sergeant July  28,  1879 6 

Russell,  Nathan  M August  3, 1882 2 

Ryan,WiUiam  H : September  27,1886 hi.  5 

Scott,  James  P.,  Lieutenant May  21,  1873 6 

Sheehan,  William  J September  27,  1886 4 

Sherman,  Clarence  A Febniary  3,  1888 3 

Sherman,  Isaiah  B April  19,  1883 4 

Sherman,  James  L July  14,  1876 4 

Sherman,  William  N November  4,  1875 2 

Siraonds.  John  V December  2,  1872 1 

Smith,  Charles  E April  19,  1883 2 

Smith,  Edward  J November  5,  1885 2 

Stevens,  Eugene,  Lieutenant January  15,  1869 1 

Stockley,  Joseph  E June  14,  1888 1 

Sullivan,  Mortimer July  2, 1888 3 

Sullivan,  Patrick  A February  23,  1882 6 

Swan,  James  O,  Detective May  7,  1856 C.  H. 

T 

Thomas,  Samuel  W May  19,  1881 1 

Toole,  John  J July  2,  1888 2 

Topliff,  T.  D.,  Sergeant July  28, 1879 C.  H. 

Tracy,  John August  6,  1866 5 

Tracy,  Sylvester ».September  28, 1876 5 

Tripp,  John  K April  29, 1871 1 

Tucker,  A.  Sidney September  1,  1881 2 

ICyler,  Thomas  D October  5, 1882 1 

"VT" 

Walker,  Adver  H April  30, 1888 6 

Wheeler,  Abel  C.  T January  1,  1875 4 

Whidden,  Abel  G May  21,  1880 4 

Whipple,  William  P.. August  21, 1875 4 

White,  Benjamin  T.,  Sergeant July  22, 1870 5 


ROSTER   OF  THE  FORCE.  511 

Name.  Date  of  Appointment,  Station. 

Wilbur,  James  H February  8,  1869 6 

WUIard,  Herbert  M April  6, 1882 1 

Willard,  Nahum June  11,  1855 1 

Winship,  Augustus  J.,  Captain December  13,  1869 C.  H. 

Wyraan,  George  A October  4,  1888 1 

Wyman,  Joseph  A April  30,  1885 6 

Wyman,  William  M ^uly  6, 1882 .% 4 

IT 

Yeaw,  Job  S March  8, 1883 3 

Young,  Charles  S May  22,  1884 2 


RETIRED  LIST. 


Name.                                  Date  of  Appointment.     Date  of  Retirement 
Bennett,  Josiah May  20,  1862 April  6, 1888 

Booth,  William  J August  15,  1865 April  5, 1888 

Newhall,  Benjamin  A June  12, 1848 April  5,  1888 

Pratt,  Joseph  W June  16, 1856 Apiil  5,  1888 

Prcsser,  Lorenzo  D July  11,  1866 April  5,  1888 

Kutherford,  Theodore June  11,  1855 April  5, 1888 

Banders,  James  W.,  Ex-Captain November,  1853 August  1, 1879 


SUMMARY. 

Chief 1 

Deputy-Chief 1 

Captains 7 

Lieutenants 7 

Sergeants 8 

Superintendent  of  Hacks 1 

Clerks  of  Police 2 

Detectives 3 

Warrant  Officers 2 

Patrolmen 168 

Total 200 


INDEX. 


A. 

PAOB 

Allen,  Avery,  Captain ^ 40 

Ambulances 231 

Anthony,  Hezekiah 55 

Arbitration  Tried 19 

Armstrong.  Henry  C,  Alderman 110 

Arnold,  Benedict 20 

Arnold,  Joseph « 323 

Ash,  James 339 

Ayer,  William  H.,  Ex-Chief .....74,  78,    79 


Baird,  Charles  B 348 

Baker,  Keuben  R.,  C:iptain 322 

Barstow,  Mayor 56 

Barton,  Colonel,  imprisoned 22 

Bennett,  Josiah 349 

Bewitt,  Hu<;h,  Town  Sergeant 20,  23,    24 

Billings,  George  A 46 

Blanding,  Stephen  F.,  Property  Clerk ; 187,  358 

Blood,  Herbert  C 288 

Booth,  William  J 3D 

Boss,  Josej  h  R,  Sergeant 247 

Boston  Fire 294 

Bowen,  George  W 340 

Bradbury,  Ji  seph 343 

Bridgman,  Mayor 52 

Brockway  Case 458 

Brown,  Hartley  W 308 

Brown,  John  T.,  Deputy-thief 63,  77,  174,  183 

Burgess,  Thomas  M.,  Mnyor 56 

Burrows,  Edward  G.,  Alderman 114 

o 

Capital  Punishment,  Abolition  of 383 

Captiin^,  Di.tiesof 147 

Carpenter,  William 20 

Casey,  John,  Alderman 121 

(512) 


INDEX.  513 

PAOX 

Central  Police  Station 64,  227 

Chaffee,  Daniel  K « 46 

Charity  Building «« 88 

Charter  of  1644 ^ 20 

Charter  of  Town  of  Providence ^ 23 

Charter,  CiJy,  Amended « 64,    86 

Chief  of  Police,  Office  Created 64 

Chief  of  Police,  Duties  of. ^ 142 

Chief  Deputy,  Duties  of 147 

Child,  Benjamin  H.,  Chief  of  Police 87,  160,  174 

Clerk  of  Police,  Duties  of 162 

City  Marshal,  Office  Abolished 64 

Clark,  John  M 62 

Clark,  Richard  A 358 

Garke,  George  L.,  Mayor 69 

Colwell,  Daniel  T ^ 348 

Constables,  how  Compensated 25 

Cory,  William  H.,  Captain 77,  232 

Costine,  Jeremiah,  Captain 275 

Cozzens,  Benjamin : 31 

Crane,  Geo»ge,  Jr.,  Sergeant 333,  337 

Cranston,  William  B ^ 46,    62 

Criminals,  Notorious 389,  413,  437,  468 

D 

Danforth,  Mayor 66 

Danielson,  George  W 54 

Day,  Martin 364,  368 

Dary,  George  H.,  Lieutenant ~ 280 

Dennehy  Case 406 

Department  of  Charity 88 

Dexter,  Ebenezer  Knight 87 

Detective  Police,  Duties  of. 152 

Disposers  Appointed 18 

Dorr  War ~ 45,    46 

Doyle,  Thomas  A.,  Mayor c «57-93 

Dunmunway  Cases 406 

Duties  of  Chief. 142 

Duties  of  Captains 147 

Duties  of  Lieutenants 152 

Duties  of  Sergeants 162 

Duties  of  Patrolmen 163 

Egan,  Patrick,  Captain 77,  262 

Executions,  Last 379 


514  INDEX. 

__  rAos 

Field,  William ^ 20 

First  Light  Infantrj 38,    39 

Forgeries 458 

Frey,  Jacob,  Marshal  Baltimore  Police , 173 

o 

Gardiner,  William , , .,.  345 

Gaspee,  Burning  of , .,,., 29 

Goddard,  William 361 

Gordon-Sprague  Case *....~ 379 

Gorton,  Samuel , 20 

Greene,  Duty  J 283 

Gross,  Thomas  J.  A.,  Ex-Chief. 62,  73,  204 


Hardscrabble  Biot.... 36 

Harris,  Thomas 20 

Hart,  Hiram. 348 

Hart,  Thomas  W.,  City  Marshal 46,  54,    65 

Hayden,  Daniel 364 

Hayward,  William  S.,  Mayor 92 

Hitchcock,  Rev.  Dr.  Enos 42 

Hopkins,  Thomas 20 

Horton,  Constant  S.,  Sergeant 243 

Horton,  Seth  L.,  Clerk  to  Chief. 195 

Howes,  John  P 247 

Hudson,  William  H 46,    62 

Hunkinges,  William  M 20 

Hunt,  Charles  H.,  Ex-Chief. 79 

1 

Imprisonment  for  Debt 22 

Irons,  Waterman  Case 485 

cr 

Jails 26 

Johnson,  Albert  C 91 

Johnson,  James  E / 294 

Jones,  Edwin  R.,  Warrant  Officer m 209 

Jofilin,  Heniy  V.  A.,  City  Clerk • 120 


Kinsley,  Benjamin  E.,  Alderman 189 

Knight,  Jabez  C,  Mayor 64,    66 


INDEX.  615 

PAGB 

Knowles,  Edward  P^  Mayor 49,  53,    56 

Knowles,  John  M 44,  73,  78,  204 

Knowles,  William 69 

Ij 

Latham,  Joseph .*... *..) 26 

Lathrop,  Rev.  Dr 42 

Lawrence,  William  H.,  Sergeant 284 

Laws  of  1647 20,    21 

Leavitt,  William  H,  Lieutenant 317 

Lieutenants,  Duties  of 152 

Livsey,  John  B 208 

Long,  Isaiah,  Warrant  Oflficer 209 

Lowe,  Edwin,  Alderman 125 

im: 

McElroy,  Thomas 364 

McKenzie,  Andrew 77 

McOsker,  Fergus  J.,  Alderman 113 

Madden,  Michael 344 

Magill,  P.  J.,  Lieutenant 296,  334 

Man,  William 20 

Mann,  David  E.,  Captain 40 

Marshal,  First  City 41 

Marston,  Joseph,  Captain 77,  294 

Marvin,  Richard 31 

Matthews,  Frank  A.,  Sergeant 303 

Morgue 231,  243 

Mowry,  Albert  F.,  Sergeant 270 

Mumford,  Henry  G 41 

Murray,  John  A.,  Detective 223-227 

Negroes  Liberated 35 

Newhall,  Benjamin  A.,  Ex-Captain 47,  77,  349 

Nickerson,  A.  W 266,  267 

Night-watch  Established 30 

Night-watchmen  in  1775 30,    31 

Norcross,  George  H.,  Superintendent  of  Hacks. 191 

North  Providence,  Division  of. 74 

o 

O'Neil,  Edward,  Lieutenant 261,  344 

Olney,  Mrs.  Celia ; 87 

Olney's  Lane  Eiot , 87 


516  INDEX. 

PAQB 

Palmer,  Dr.  William  H^  Surgeon 203,  204 

Parker,  P.,  Detective 218-223 

Patrolmen,  Duties  of. 153 

Payne,  Benjamin  F.,  Captain 47,  310 

Penalties  and  Punishments,  Early 374 

Perry,  Frederick  W.,  Ex-Sergeant 62,  400 

Pike,  Asa 55 

Pillory 27 

Pitcher  Case 495 

Potter,  Jabez  J 46 

Potter,  Lewis 60 

Pratt,  Joseph  W 349 

Press  (evening  newspaper) 54 

Prohibition,  Mayor  Kodman  on 63 

Prosser,  Lorenzo  D 349 

Providence  Police  Association 350 

Providence  Police  Association,  Past  Officeisof 357 

Prf.vidence  Polica  Association,  Lirectors  of 358 

Pullen,  William,  Murder  of. 47 

Police,  First 24 

Police,  First,  How  Paid 24 

Police,  First  Night-watch 30 

Police,  First  Night-watchmen  in  1775 30,     31 

Police,  First  Night-watch  Badge  of  Office 32 

Police,  Volunteer  Watch  Established 33,    34 

Police,  First  City  Marshal 41 

Police,  Old  Walch-house 42 

Police,  Old  Watch,  how  Atiired 44 

Police,  First  Day  Forc=^ 46 

Police,  Old  Watch  Beits,  how  Patrolled 51 

Police  Law  Amentled 53,    86 

Police,  Present  System  Organized 65 

Police,  Present  F^rce,  First  Annual  Report 58 

Polce  Forre  Created 61 

Police,  Firt  Uniform'* 63 

Police,  Offic3  of  Chief  Created 64 

Poice,  First  Chief = 66 

Poli  e  Force  Increased 73,  74,    89 

Police,  Rank  of  Officera  Changed 80 

Police,  Matron  Appointed 87 

Police,  Controversy  for  Control  of  the  Force 92 

Police,  Powers  of  Mayor 101 

Police  Committee 1*27 

Polife  Committee,  Rules  and  Duties  of 128 

Police  Fines,  Disposition  of 131 


INDEX.  517 

PAOB 

Police,  Duties  and  Qualifications  of. 131 

Police  Patrol  System 133 

Police  Patrol  Wagon 135 

Police,  Municipal  Signal  Company's  System 135 

Police  Force,  Constitution  of 142 

Police,  Present  Force  Organized 144 

Police,  Duties  of  Chief,  Officers,  and  Patrolmen 144-157 

Police  Uniforms 157 

Police,  Order  of  Rank , 154 

Police  Surgeon 168,  203 

Police  Detective  Bureau 211 

Police  Siation-houses 227,  273,  288,  293,  305,  322 

Pi>lice  District,  First 227 

Police  District,  Second 251,  273 

Police  District,  Third 275,  288 

Police  District  Fourth 290 

Police  District,  Fifth 305 

Police  District,  Sixth 322 

Police  Court 232 

Police  Gymnasiums 258,  274,  289,  293,  311 

Police  Libraiies 258,  288,  293,  306 

Police  "Baiting" 296 

Police,  Mounted ; 343 

Police  Association,  Providence 350 

Police  Eelief  and  Insurance 353 

Police  Pensions 348 

Police,  Newspaper  Reporters 363 

Rankin,  Frederick  A.,  Lieutenant 239,  358,  491 

Reynolds,  William 20 

Rhode  Island,  Foundation  of. 18 

Rifle  Company  Recommended 78 

Riots 36,    37 

Robbins.  Gilbert  F.,  Mayor 92-109 

Rogers,  Charles  D.,  Alderman 110 

Rodman,  Mayor 53,    56 

Root,  Henry  T.,  Alderman 116 

Rowe,  William  H.,  Sergeant 337 

Russell,  Jeremiah 31 

Rutherford,  Theodore « 77,  349 

s 

Sampson,  Charles  F.,  Alderman 109 

Sanders,  James  W.,  Ex-Laptain 50,  77,  348 

Sanders,  Joseph  W 50 

Sanford,  Albert,  Ex-Chief. 69 


618  INDEX. 

PAOB 

Schofield,  John 371 

Scott,  James  P.,  Lieutenant 266,  330 

Scott,  John,  ordered  to  build  a  prison 1 «    26 

Sergeants,  Duties  of. 152 

Sherman,  James  L 303 

Sherman,  Simeon 50,  290 

Sherman,  William  N 323 

Slack,  Warren  G 62 

Slocura,  Albert  A 62 

Smith,  Edward  J 270 

Smith,  Jame^  Y.,  Mayor 62,  56,  85,  162 

Smith,  Robert  E.,  Alderman 115 

Sn  )w,  Henry  P 49 

Splau,  John 244 

Stampers  street.  Origin  of  Name 23 

Staples,  Judge,  on  Colonial  Laws 23 

State  and  Church 17 

Stations,  Locations  of,  in  1853 50 

Stevens,  Eugene,  Lieutenant 238 

Stewart,  James,  Jr.,  General 173 

Superintendent  of  Hacks,  Duties  of. 152 

Surgeon,  Acting  Police 158,  203-207 

Swan,  James  O,  Detective 212-218 

T 

Topliff,  Thomas  D.,  Sergeant 207 

Town  Council,  Powers  of. « 29 

Town  House,  Old 42 

Town  Sergeant,  Office  of. 25,    26 

Tracy,  John 341 

Tramps 231,  240 

Tripp,  Edwin 50 

Tyler,  Thomas  D 341 

TJ 

Uniforms  of  the  Force 167 

V 

Van  Slyck,  Nicholas,  City  Solicitor 95 

Verin,  Joshua 18 

Viall,  Nelson,  General , 66 

•V7- 

Walling,  George  W.,  Ex-Superintendent  of  New  York  Police 173 

Warner,  James  H.,  Ex-Captain .77,  290 

Warwick,  Prison  at 25 

Watch,  in  Southern  Part  of  Town 82 


INDEX.  519 

PAGB 

Watch,  Volunteer 33,    34 

Watch  in  1832 40 

Watchmen , 44 

Watch  House  Described » 43 

Watch  Abolished 64 

West,  Robert  R « 20 

Weston,  Francis 20 

Whippingpost 27 

Whipping,  Cropping,  and  Branding 21,  27,  375 

Whipple,  Abraham 29 

White,  Benjamin  T.,  Sergeant 318 

Wickenden,  William 20 

Wightman,  George  W :..46,    88 

Wilbur,  James  H.,  Ex-Sergeant 348 

Willard,Nahum 77,  346 

WUliams,  Alfred  M 364 

Williams,  Roger 17 

Wilson,  Ira  B ^............c 62 

Winship,  Augustus  J^  Captain 183-186,  235 

Winsor,  Joshua .* .^....••••...•..•...•••••^........•..•....•..•...•.,.,..,„».    20 


Acid  Phosphate 

Prepared  according  to  the  directions  of  Prof.  E.  N.  Horsfobd. 

ESPECIALLY  RECOMMENDED  FOR 

Dyspepsia,  Nervousness,  Exhaustion, 
Headache,  Tired  Brain, 

And  all  Diseases  arising  from  Indigestion  and  Nerve  Exhaustion. 


This  is  not  a  compounded  "  patent  medicine,"  but  a  pre- 
paration of  the  phosphates  and  phosphoric  acid  in  the  form 
required  by  the  system. 

It  aids  di2:estion  without  injury,  and  is  a  beneficial  food  and 
tonic  for  the  brain  and  nerves. 

It  makes  a  delicious  drink  with  water  and  sugar  only,  and 
agrees  with  such  stimulants  as  are  necessary  to  take. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Hill,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  says  :  "  An  excellent 
remedy  for  atonic  dyspepsia,  nervous  and  general  debility,  or 
any  low  state  of  the  system." 

Dr.  D.  A.  Stewart,  Winona,  Minn.,  says :  "  Entire  satisfac- 
tion in  cases  of  perverted  digestion,  loss  of  nerve-power,  mal- 
nutrition and  kindred  ailments." 

Dr.  G.  H.  Leach,  Cairo,  111.,  says :  "  Of  great  power  in 
dyspepsia  and  nervous  prostration." 

Descriptive  pamphlet  free. 

Bnmford  Ohemioal  Works,  Providence,  B.  I. 


Beware  of  Substitutes  and  Imitations. 

CAUTION:— Be  sure  the  word  " Horsford's''  is  I^JRINTED 
on  the  label.    All  others  are  spurious.    Never  sold  in  hulk. 


SFICERS  &  FECKHAM, 

Mduel  G-ddiis, 


Manufacturers  of 

(he  Famous 


We  ai^o  MANurACTURE  A  Large  Line  of 

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FLINT  &CO.'S 


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-4*  Rhode  Island  hospital 4^ 

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cj^:e'xtj^'iLj,     -     -     $1,000,000. 

HERBERT  J.  WELLS,  President 

WILLIAM  H.  LATHAM,  Vice-President 

EDWARD  S.  CLARK,  Secretary. 


-**DIRHCTORS«f- 


AMOS  C.  BARSTOW, 
ZECHARIAH  CHAKEE, 
CHRISTOPHER  LIPPITT, 
ROYAL  0.  TAFT, 
B.  H.  L  GODDAKD, 
G.  W.  R.  MATTESON. 
S.  S.  SPRAGUE, 
WILLIAM  D.  ELY, 
ROBERT  L  GAMMELL, 
WILLIAM  BINNEY, 


WILLIAM  B.  WEEDEN, 
ROWLAND  HAZARD, 
EDWARD  D   PEARCE, 
HENRY  J.  STEERE, 
HORATIO  N.  CAMPBELL 
ROBERT  KNIGHT, 
JOHN  W.  DANIELSON, 
HERBERT  J.  WELLS» 
JOHN  C.  PEGRAM. 


Deposits  received  and  interest  allowed  npon  tbe  Daily  Balance. 

DEPOSITS  may  be  made  with  this  Company  upon  the  same  principle  as 
in  Savings  Banks,  and  will  be  Entitled  to  Participate  in  the  Pbofits  of 
THE  Company. 

fi^*  Letters  of  Credit  furnished  on  demand,  available  in  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

J9®*  This  Company  is  empowered  by  its  Charter,  to  act  as  Administratar^ 
AssigneCf  or  Receiver,  whether  by  appointment  of  Court,  or  of  Individuals. 


Industrial  Trust  Company, 

57  WKSTNIINSTKR  STRKKT, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 


CAPITAL,  FnUy  Paid, $500,000. 

Transacts  a  general  Banking  and  Trust  Business. 

Interest  paid  on  deposits  subject  to  check  at  sight. 

Deposits  on  "  Participation  Account,"  on  or  before  the  15th  day  of  August, 
November,  February  and  May,  draw  interest  from  the  first  of  said  months  re- 
spectively. Dividends  in  August  and  February.  This  account  combines  the 
advantages  of  Savings  Banks,  with  the  additional  security  of  the  Capital  Stock 
of  this  Company. 

Legal  Depository  for  Guardians,  Executors,  Administrators,  Trustees, 
Receivers,  Assignees. 

This  Company  is  empowered  to  accept  and  execute  all  trusts  committed  to 
it  by  any  person,  corporation  or  court. 

Directors :  Hiram  H.  Thomas,  James  M.  Kimball,  George  L.  Littlefield, 
Joshua  Wilbour,  Albert  L.  Calder,  Nicholas  Van  Slyck,  James  O.  Inman,  Sterns 
llutchins,  Hezekiah  Conant,  George  T.  Bliss,  N.  Y.,  William  C.  Osborn,  N.  Y., 
Zechariah  Chafee,  Jr.,  Charles  R.  Cutler,  E.  C.  Knight,  Phila.,  J.  S.  Parish, 
Horace  M.  Barns,  Benjamin  F.  Thurston,  John  P.  Campbell,  Asa  P.  Potter, 
Boston,  Samuel  P.  Colt. 

SAMUEL  P.  COLT,  President.  J.  M.  ADDEMAN,  Treasurer. 

State  t  HutQal  t  Fire  I  Insurancei  Company 

No.  1  Custom  House  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

INSURES  MANDFACTURING  PROPERTY  ONLY. 
EOBEET  B.  CHAPMAN,  Pres't.        CHAELES  H.  CHAPMAN,  Seo'y. 

Enterprise  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company 

No.  1  Custom  House  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

INSURES  MANUFACTURING  PROPERTY  ONLY. 

SCOTT  W.  MOWEY,  President.       EOBEET  B.  CHAPMAN,  Secretary. 
CHAELES  H.  CHAPMAN,  Assistant  Secretary. 


American  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company 

No.  1  Custom  House  Street,  Providence,  R,  I. 

INSURES  MANUFACTURING  PROPERTY  ONLY. 

JAMES  S.  PHETTEPLAOE,  Pres't.      EOBEET  B.  CHAPMAN,  Sec'y 
CHAELES  H.  CHAPMAN,  Assistant  Secretary. 


Providence  Wosljlngtoii  Insurance  Go. 


INCORPORATED    1799. 


20  Market  Square,  Providence,  R-  I. 


CASH  ASSETS,  $1,116,858.70. 


J.  H.  DeWolf 


DIRECTORS. 

R.  I.  GAKintLL, 


Wm.  Am  ks, 

Hbnry  J.  Stkerk,  E.  Philip  Masok, 

Wm.  Grosvknor,  Jr.     F.  W.  Carpkntkb,        Royal  C.  Taft, 


EuGKins  W.  Mason, 
John  S.  Palmxb. 


J.  H.  DeWOLF,  President    J.  B.  BRANCH,  Secretary.    6E0.  E.  BIXBY,  Asst  Secretary. 
-•^DWELLING    HOUSE    INSURANCE.-®* 


Franklin  Hutnal  Fire  Insurance  Company 

OFFICE,  ■WOOD'S  BUHiDING, 

i2  Sontli  Main,  cor.  College  St.,  Rooms  1  &  2,  ProTidence,  R.  I. 

INCOKPOKATBD,  A.  D.  1864. 

AMOUNT  AT  RISK,  $7,500,000.  ASSETS.  $500,000. 

Thia  Company  confines  its  business  exclusively  to  Insuring  Dwelling  Houses  and 
Household  Furniture,    Insures  against  Losa  or  Damage  by  Light- 
l.     Diridends  paid  at  the  expiration  of  Policies. 

JOHN  R.  WH EATON,  Secretary. 


mng. 
AMOS  M.  BOWEN,  President  and  Treasurer. 


Fipe  \  PJiaHne  Insupance  Company, 

F>ROVIDE^NCE,  R.  I, 


DIRECTORS. 

Henrr  C.  Cranaton,        Henry  J.  Steere,  John  Waterman,  Thomas  J.  mil, 

Josiah  W.  Crooker,         Orlando  H.  Davenport,  Parley  M.  Mathewson,  O.  J.  Rathbun, 

Julius  Palmer,  Fred.  W.  Arnold,  C.  B.  Arnold,  Jr.,  Hammond  Vinton, 

John  A.  Adams,  Robert  E.  Northam,       Herbert  F.  Hinckley,  John  S.  Palmer, 

Nelaon  W.  Aldrich,         Henry  Pearce,  Andrew  G.  Weeks. 

ORB'ICHJRS. 


FRED.  W.  ARNOLD,  President. 


JAS.  E.  TILLINGHAST,  Secretary. 


Onion  Hntnal  Fire  Insurance  Co. 

OrncB, 

11  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

This  Company  /nsures  Dwelling  Houses 

and  their  Contents  only. 

Statement  of  ConditioB,  April  1st,  1888, 

Amount  Cash  Assets. ....$160,000  00 

Amount  of  Interest  received  dur- 
ing the  year 7,342  49 

Amount  of  Losses,  Expenses  and 

Taxes  for  the  year 6,852  90 

Xlghty  per  cent,  of  the  premium  on  Seven- 
Yesr  Folioies  is  now  retuzned  to  the  insured. 
All  losses  and  Expanses  paid  to  date. 


Jmbtb  T.  a.  Sbdt,  Secy. 


Edwin  Baxxows,  Prest. 


BLiCKSTONE  H.  F.  INS.  CO. 

41  Westminster  St.,  ProTidence,  R.  I. 

Insures  First-class  Manufacturing 
Property  only. 


Ko  Agents  Employed. 


Ko  Commissloni  Fall 


Applications  for  Insarance  m»,j  b«  mad*  to 

WILLIAM  F.  WORCH,    or    JOHN  EDDY, 

Seoretuy,  PreiUantt 


J^^^^j^    ^    ^4i^^^yid/<?ii^, 


€i^n 


87  WEYBOSSET  STREET. 

0 

United   States    Bonds  and   Commercial   Paper  bought  and 
sold.     Stocks   and   Bonds   bought  and  sold   in  all 
markets  on  commission,  particular  attention 
being  given  to  First-Class  Invest- 
ment Bonds  and  Stocks. 

INTEREST  ALLOWED  ON  DEPOSITS. 


WILBOUR,  JACKSON  &  CO. 

BANKERS 


.s^ 


-AND 


BROKERS 


JOSHUA   WILBOUR, 
BENJ.  A.  JACKSON, 
CHAS.  H.  SHELDON,  JR. 
WILLIAM  BINNEY,  JR. 

^ 


-DEALERS  IN— 

Commercial    Paper,  Government  and  Other   Flrst-Class  Bonds  and 

Securities,  and  Foreign  Exchange.     Private  Telegraph  Wire 

to  New  York  and  Boston.     Deposits  Received  and 

Interest  Allowed  on  Balances. 

48  AND  52  WEYBOSSET  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,   R.    I. 


'■}■ 


8PE>CER  TRASK,  i  g   ^   bLODGET,  JR.,  CBAS.  J.  PRACODT, 

OKO.  KOSTKRPEABODT.VSBWYOBK.  '         *  .,„.„« 

KDWIM  M.  BULKLKY.       I  PBOVIDKMCB.  AUUUX. 


SPENCER  TRASK  &  CO., 

Hankers  and  Brnkers, 

(Members  of  the  New  York  Stock  Ezcliaiige.) 

Nos.  5  and  7  Exchange  Street,  Providence,  R.  L 

16  and  18  BROAD  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


Transact  a  General  Banking  Business.  Deposits  Eeceived  and  Interest 
allowed  on  balances.  Government,  State,  Muniiipal  and  Kail  road  Bonds 
bought  and  sold.  Loans  and  Commercial  Paper  nego  iated.  Slocks,  Bonds, 
Grain  and  Provisions  bought  and  sold  on  usual  Commission  and  tarried  on 
margin.  Private  Telegraph  wires  to  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and 
Saratoga. 


Capital,  $500,000. 


Surplus,  $100,000. 


U.  S.  DEPOSITORT. 

INTEREST  PAID  ON  DEPOSITS. 
DRAFTS  ON  ENGLAND  and  IRELAND. 


C.  F.  Sweetland4- 
-f  H.  Mark  Anthony, 

Trustees  of  Estate  of 

ALFRED  ANTHONY. 


BRYANT  &  STRATTON 

©usiness  ^  College, 

Ho.  283  Westminster  Street,  ProYidence,  R.  I. 


A  thorough  and  practical  Business  Training  School,  with  com- 
plete Penmanship,  Short  Hand,  Type- Writing  and  Elocution  Depart- 
ments. 

T.  B.  STOWELL,         .       -       -        Ptincipal. 


Pknix  Mutual  Life  Ins.  Co. 


OF  HARTFORD.  CONN. 


Assets,  $10,501,559.74. 

Surplus,  $1,210,013.39. 

WILLIAM  C.  STANTON,  Gen'l  Agt., 
No.  5  Custom  House  Street. 

CHARLES  H.  BEACH, 
-^Insupance  i*- 

29  WEYBOSSET  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Edward   5.  Babbitt, 
INSURANCE, 

OiDce,  Equitable  Bnilding,  ist  loor, 

0(p.tke  Put  Office,  PEOVIDEIC!,  B.  I. 

Wholesale  and  Betail  Dealer  in 

Wall  Papers  and  Cflrtains. 

Making  and  Potting  up  Curtains 

A  SPECIALTY, 

305  High  St.,    ProTidence,  R.  I. 


Tmjiphone  1239-8.  LOWEST  PRICES. 

ROBERT  L  GREENE, 

Paper  V  Twine 

WAREHOUSE. 

Manilla^  Tissue^  Book  and  Flat  Papers^ 

Tar  Paper^  Roofings  Sheathing^ 

Boiler  Coverings  Etc., 

Hos.  43  Eddy  and  24  Washington  Sts., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


ASA    LYMAN, 

FIRE  &  MARINE  INSURANCE, 

Reynold's  Building, 

37  WEYBOSSET  STREET, 
STARKWEATHER  (St  SHEPLEY 

PIREJ  AND  MARINE 

Insurance  *  Rgents, 

27  CUSTOM  HOUSE  ST., 

OKO.  L.  SHEPLEY.  PROVIDENCE,  B.  1. 

CHARLES  S.  DURFEE, 

Fire  &  Marine  Insurance  Agency 

No.  3  WEYBOSSET  ST., 

Teleplionft  Connection.  FBOTIBEKCX,  B.  I. 

INSURANCE     AGENCY 

F.  A.  WALDRON,  Jr., 
33  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

German  American  Insaranoe  CSemnanr  of 

New  York,  Assets, $5,286,348 

Firemen's  Fund  Insurance  Company  af  Cal- 
ifornia, Assets, 12,181,935 

The    Merchants     Insuranoe    CompanT    of 

Newark,  N.  J.,  AsseU,    ....  |1,812,081 

THE  PROVIDENCE 

Wall  Paper  House, 

ITholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

Wall  Papers,  Window  Shades, 
Draperies,  Etc., 

Nos.  337  to  341  Westminster  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I., 


E.  L  FREEMAN  &  SON, 
Frintera^ 

Pablisbers  and  Stationers, 

Ho.  3  Westminster  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


YS/^iLLiAM  JH.  Hall, 


Mort^^ages  uegotiated.    Houses  and  lots  in  all  parts  of  the  cii^y  and 

suburbs   for  sale  at  low  prices  and  on  easy  terms* 

Special   attention  given  to  the  sale  of 

Real  Estate  by  auction 


49  WEYBOSSET  ST.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 

HALL'S  BUILDING. 


A.  T.  JOHNSON, 

>/■    X   ■  X       X       6     i X       X       X      X  '   W     ■>»■    M      X      W 

Real  Estate  and  Mortgages 

29  Weybosset  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.I. 

BERNARD  McGUINNESS, 

Real  Estate^ 

MartgagBB^ 
\  InsurancBj 

Mo.  14  Westminster  Street 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

Sales  of  Real  Estate  at  Auction  a  Specialty. 

H.  F.  HORTON, 
Rea/  Estate  and 

Mortgage  Broker, 

And  Auctioneer, 

Special  attention  given  to  the  care  and  Ifaa- 

agement  of  Estates. 

42  Weybosset  St.,  Rooms  5  and  6. 

Elevator,  5  Custom  House  St. 


DAVID  F.  GOFF, 


OBALSRIN 


Real  Estate  and  Mortgages 

42  "Weybosset  Street* 

Room  4, 
PBOTIDENCE,  R.  I, 

GEO.  C.  HARRINGTON, 

(Successor  to  C.  N.  Habrengton.) 

Real  Estate  and  Mortgage  Broker, 

Rental  and  Insurance  Agent, 

Adjuster  of  Claims,       Bills  CoUeoted. 

OFFICE,  OSAITITZ  B7ILDINa, 

Cor.  Market  Sq.  and  North  Main  St., 

Second  Ploor,  Boom  S. 

AgOBt  for  the  owners  of  Oranitd  BuUdlag. 

'WTVE.  H.  HERRICK, 

Real  Estate,  Mortgages,  Insurance, 

Yaaghan  Building,  Next  to  Post  Office, 
27  Custom  House  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Telephone.        (Rooms  24  and  25.)       Elerstor. 

GEO.   H.   BUNCE, 

33  Westminster  Street, 
Room  3i  Providencei  R.  !• 

Telephone  604-4. 


OnieinTAI:.  J^II:.I:.S 


Manufacturers  of 


Cotton  Goods, 


Dress  Goods, Etc. 


JOHN  W.  SLATER, 


SLATERSVILLE  MILLS 

t==Jn=Jr==Jr=Jt=z/r=zjf==jr==jr=ijr=Jr==Jr==Jr=Jr==dr==Jr=Jr==Jr=Jr=^r=^ 


COLORED  COTTON  GOODS, 


No.  26  Westminster  Street 


ATLANTIC  MILLS 


Dpess/.  Goods, 


MERINOS,  CASHMERES,  Etc, 


^^(5^ 
^ 


providence 


JManufa-cturers  of  *'"•  "* 


^.      XIX       ^    »--.i<gW^i^_» 


in ©f'SfeJ^  B^i^Kig. 


■♦■ — VB? — »^ 


w&ng^ueS.  ©0. 


"Kyxrui/lr^W/iny^ 


CfliJoPsted  * 


*         Goatings. 


:Nv^^ N^.^  N^-  N^  M*^>^ X^^  N^^"? 


t*!j^iy-i^'jS^0J 


-^t*  QlaBafetefarars  ©f**"*- 


uJ0pgt€^d  $oodg 


B^ 

1       '     K     ^WrK/^^ 

N* 

^  -n:  :^  .^^s^  _  rK  ^vN  -n:  -  >n;  ^  i 

■aaaiuiuiiiiiiiiiiHUiiiitiimiriiiiiitiiiirninimniuinnnii 

Muratii 

<uwiiiiiimmiiMiii!tiiimttwHMinnmiM*ttnnNnui!!<uiiiHiiiMiiiiiHiiii.iiuti!iiiinniiirmiiiiuniiniiiiiiur. 

Tm 

ROBERT  CARRUTHERS, 

MANUFACTURER  OF 

for  Weaving  Silk,  Cotton,  Woslens  and  Carpets, 
Wire  and  Eair  Cloth  Bead:  and  Taper  Comlss. 

Bessemer  Steel  used  if  Desired. 
Seeds  Sepairei  and  Setnrned  with  Bispatclu 

25  Calender  St.,        Providence,  R.  1. 

All  Orders  Protuptly  Attended  to. 

Samples  Sent  upon  Application. 


THOMAS  MABBETT, 

MANUFACTURER  OF 

WOOLEN  YARNS, 

Waste  Dealer  and  Opener, 

AND  BURRING, 
No.  36  BACON  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE.  R.I. 


-fHIGHI^OnD4- 


*  >•< 


>>*<♦ 


ppovidence,  j^.  I. 


-f  ErENEYA4- 

Wdrbteii  Mills, 


frd-stihence,   -   r.  i. 


John  M.  Richmond.     Henry  L.  Tifkany. 


Ridnnond* 
-»%>  Tiffany, 


COI T  0  N 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Office,  17  S.  Water  St.  P.  0.  Box  1374. 


H-PampMl^Co. 


DAY   BUILDING, 


BOSTON  and  PROVIDENCE 
CLOTHING  CO. 

kanufacturers.  Jobbers  and  Retaileri  »f 

i^en's,  Youths',  Boys'  and  Children's 

CLOTHING, 

104, 106  &  108  Westminster  St. 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


R.  H.  Deirjing  S:  Go. 


COTTON 
MERCHANTS 


5  SOUTH  WATER  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

James  P.  Rhodes.  Edwin  F.  Rhodes. 

Eugene  X.  Andeni. 


J.  P.  RHODES  &  CO. 

Gotton  +  Mercliants 

AND  BEOEESS, 

5  College  Street. 

0pp.  Board  of  Trade  Building. 

Narragansett  Clotbing  Co. 

Maaufactureri,  Wholesalers  and  Retailers  in 

Men's,  Youths',  Boys'  and  Children's 

(©LOTHIKG 

No.  84  Westminster  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 
Xext  Door  above  Arcade. 

Alex.  S  Sawteb,  Manages. 


I  Cotton  t 
Merchants, 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


Ootton  Ordered  for  Manufacturers 
from  Souttem  Buyers. 

D.  Rkminoton.  C.  B.  Trowbridge. 

D-Reniiitoii^Soii 


Cotton 


Brokers 


No.  2  SOUTH  WATER  ST, 


Cottons- 
-f  Dealer, 


Board  of  Trade  Bnilding, 


PROVIDENCE,  R. 


F.  W.  Reynolds, 

*COTTON* 

13  S.  WATER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


PKOVIDENOE,  R.  I.  |         Staple  Ootton  a  Specialty. 


NEW  ENGLAND  BUTT  COMPANY 

PBOriDENCE,  B.  i, 

•^— Maxufactubers  of—— 

Braiding  *  ]y[achinEry, 

OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION, 

FOR  SILK,  WORSTED  AND  COTTON  BRAID, 

—AND  FOR  COYEBIXe 

'Pelegrxa.plh^   T'elepl^osn.e,   ^lect3:ic   Xjig-lit   eizidL 

Oriaa-oliaa.©    T^7"ire. 

#♦» 

H.  N.  FENNER,      ---------    Treasurer. 

<♦> 
FINE    CASTINGS   A   SPECIALTY. 


tftjeybossct  JRJ^ills. 


TAFT,  WEEDElir  &  00., 

Asrents. 


ALLEN'S  PRINT  WORKS 


Manufacturers  of- 


Standard  Calicoes. 


OHZj^E/LES  IP.   T.A.-Z-XjOK;, 


Successor  to  Burgess  Cop  Tube  Co. 

MANUFACTURER  OP 


Amoskeag  Mfg.  Co., 
Pacific  Mills, 


These  Tubes  are  used  in  a  large  number  of  leading  mills,  Including 
Lonsdale  Company,  Lonsdale,       R.  I. 

Social  Manuf 'g  Co.,  Woonsocket,    " 

Manville  Company,  Manville,         " 

Wauregan  Mills,  Wauregan,  Conn. 

Harmony  Mills,  Cohoes,        N.  Y. 

Utica  Steam  Cotton  Mills,  Utica,  « 

The  New  York  Mills,  New  York  Mills,  " 


Atlantic  Cotton  Mills 
Arlington  Mills, 
Laconia  Company, 
Bates  Manuf 'g  Co., 
Lock  wood  Company, 


Manchester,  N.  H, 
Lawrence, 


Biddeford,    M«> 
Lewiston,       ** 
Waterville,    • 

Tubes  furnished  promptly  for  all  makes  of  spindles,  American  or  Foreign. 

Address,  CHARLES  F.  TAYLOR,  5  Custom  House  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L,  U.  S.  A. 


I.  P.  RICHARDS, 


MANUFACTURER  OF 


PUNCHES  V HIE B, 

For  Punching  Iron  and  Steel, 
Providence,  R.  L 


J.  HEATHCOTE, 

BOLK  MANUrACTUBKS  OV 

THE  HEATHCOTE 

Tentering  I  Drying  Machine 

GENERAL  HiCHlNERY, 

OoT.  Eddy  and  Priendship  StSt 


R.  I.  Braiding  Machine  Co. 

89  Aborn  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


AND  MANUFACTURERS  OK 


BRAIDING  MACHINES 

Are  prepared  to  fill  orders  for  Machines  for  making  FLAT  BEAIDS  of  sizes 

running  from  3  to  109  strands;  BOUND  BKAIDS  of  sizes  running  from 

8  to  96  strands ;  HERCULES  BRAIDERS,  PACKING  BRAIDERS, 

COIR  MATTING    BRAIDERS,  SINGEING   MACHINES, 

FOLDERS  OR  LAPPERS,  and  QUILLERS  for 

Looms,  Etc.,  Etc. 

Also,  constantly  on  hand  and  for  sale  BRAIDER  SUPPLIES,  including 
Bobbins,  Carriers,  Tension  Weights,  Etc. 

A.  S.  HOOD,  Supt.       G.  K.  WINCHESTER,  Treas,        B.  B,  EDM/INDS,  Agt 


CLARK  MFG.  COMPANY,       . 

(Successors  to  JOHN  L.  CLARK,) 
Manujaclurers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in  Every  Description  of 

Burial  Caskets, 

Burial  Eobes  and  Inside   Linings,  and  Jobbers  of  Undertakers'  Sundries. 

34:  Ashburton  St.,  Providence^  B.  J. 

RESIDENCE-19  STATE  STREET. 


Geo.  H.  Thurston. 


E.  W.  Fyler. 


GEO.  H.  THURSTON  &  CO. 

Electric  Engineers. 

Electrical  Apparatus  of  every  description 
introduced  by  competent  workmen.  Arc 
and  Incandescent  Electric  Light  Plants  In- 
stalled. Electric  Motors,  1-10  H.  P.  up;  also, 
proprietors  of 

Providence  Electric  Supply  Co., 

Manufacturers,  Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in  Tele- 
phone, Telegraph  and  Electric  Light  Supplies,  Chemi- 
Mli,  Batteries,  Electrical  Instruments  of  all  kinds. 

Office— 59  South  Main  Street.    Factory — 
1  Jenkins  Ayenue.     Telephone. 


IN  THEIR  CELEBRATED 

'Westerly 

(Sranile 


FBOTIDENCE  OFFICt,  5  WEIBOSSET  81. 
Alfred  H.  Combe,  Agent  and  Designer. 


Valley^  Worsted  *  Mills, 


Providence,  R, 


piRKers  ©f  iCorsteel  SorKg. 


THOS.  J.  FALES, 

SAIL  MAKER, 

Tenfs,  Awnings,  Wagon  Covers 
and  Boat  Sails  a  Specialty, 

Cor.  South  Water  and  Planet  Sts. 


J08.  A.  WOLF  &  CO. 

Glovers  Qiid  Hosiers 

153  Westminster  Street, 

Under  Hotel  Dorrance, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


"SCIENTIA   VINCIT/ 

Bleachers^  HyerSi  FrinterSi 

VFinisherB  of  CottDii  Clathj 

Office,  Board  of  Trade  Bnilding,  Providence,  R.  L,  D,  S.  A. 

— ««^» — 

"DT  "pAr^T4TNrr^  Shlrtlng  Goods  for  Pure  Starch  Finish, 
-M^^-^^-^^r^^^^  1  1  ±  1  ^  VJ  Butter  Cloths,  Lawns,  Nainsooks,  Per- 
cales, and  other  Plain  and  Figured  Cotton  Cloth. 

T^VpT  IVrr^  Silesias,  Jaconettes,  Satteens,  Elastic  Duck,  Grass 
•*-^  ■■■  J-*  A 1  >l  VJ  Cloths,  Dress  Goods,  Italians,  Satin  Surah, 
Wigans,  Window  Hollands,  Etc.,  Etc. 

PR  T  IVTT  IVf  r^  Sleeve  Linings,  Handkerchiefs,  Dress  Goods, 
■■■   •*-^  A 1  ^  X  ±ly  VJ     Lawns,  Shirtings,  in  fugitive  and  in  fast  Colors. 

"PTNTTQHTMr^  Glazed,  Dead,  Embossed,  Beetled,  Watered 
A  Al>IAOAAAl\VJ  and  Scotch  Holland  Finishes  in  great 
variety,  on  White,  Colored,  or  Printed  Cotton  Cloth. 


CarefHl  Attention  given  to  Specialties  in  either  of  tlie  above  lines  of  work. 

^^RHODE  ISLAND4- 

El&ciric  %  LwhiiuM  #  Co. 


ARC  AND  INCANDESCENT  LIGHTING. 


Special  Attention  Given  to  Lighting  Mills,  Stores  and 
Houses  witli  tlie  Incandescent  Liglit. 


BOARD  OF  TRADE  BUILDING,  ROOM  No.  2, 

Rear  of  No.    270   Dyer   Street,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


JOHN  T,  DRAKE,  Superintendent. 


Providence  Belting  Co. 

Manutactukbks  op 

LEATHER  BELTS 


Loom  Straps,  Pickers,  &c. 

Special  Attention  paid  to  Repairing,  and 

Putting  On  and  Taking  Up  Main  Belts. 

Roll  GoYeriDg  for  Woolen  Machinery 

A  SPECIALTY. 
OlTICE  AND  MaNUFACTORT  : 

37  &  39  Charles  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Telephone  Connectioa. 


ESTABLISHED  1K?5. 

A.  BURGESS  &  SON, 

Manufacturers  of 

Leather  Belts 

Loom  Pickers, 
Picker  and  Lace  Leather, 

Manufacturers'  Findings  Generally, 

Faetoryi  692  North  Main  Street, 

Ofice :  Ko.  12  Westminster  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


KSTABLISBED  ISrr. 


Steadman  &  Fuller  Mfg.  Go. 


Manufacturers  of 


Cord  Clothing 

AND 

Leather  Belting 

DEALERS  IM 

ULCE*  BEI^T,  PICKER,  APRON  and 
ROIXIIR  LEATHflR. 

Importers  of  Worsted  MacUnery 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


GEO.  A.  FTJLLEB, : 
,  L.  KXLLST,  TreMonr.     JOHN  J.  HOIT, 


-THE- 


G 


JaIE  fJoMPAHY, 


17  North  Main  Street 


D.  B.  CRUICKSHANK, 

PKACTICAIi 

MACHINIST  and    ENGINEER 


DKALEK  IN 


Hew  and  Second-Hand  Machinery 

steam  Engines  and  Boilers,  Pumps, 

Shafting,  Pulleys,  Wood  and  Iron  Working 

Machinery,  Belting,  &c. 

Engineers'  and  Machinists'  Supplies. 

Sole  Agent    for  Eureka  Packing  and  Bab- 
bitt Metal.    Chase  Governors  and 
Little  Giant  Injectors. 

843  Dyer  Street,     -    Proridence,  B.  I. 

P.  0.  Box  343.    Connected  by  Telephone. 

James  B.  Manchester  &  Co. 

Coppersmiths  and  Plflmbers 

190  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

GEORGE  J.  GIBSON, 
Machinist, 

Ajn>  BuUiDES  OF  Olds'  Gbinding  Mills, 
361  EDDY  STREET, 

HS^nT*  ProTidence,B.I. 

WM.  G.  HEATH  &  CO. 

^  I.ICENSED 

Plumbers,  Steam,  Gas, 

and  Water  Pipe  Fitters, 

AND 

Brass  Finishing  of  Every  Variety. 

Also,  Dealers  in  Malleable  and  Cast  Iron 
Fittings  for  Steam,  Gas  and  Water  Pipe. 
Boiler  Pumps,  Steam  Traps,  Water  and 
Steam  Gauges. 

Office,  175  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

MANVFACTDKKBS  OW 

Heath's  Low  Pressure  Steam  Boilers. 

ASBESTOS 

NON-CONDUCTING 

COVERINGS, 

STEAM  PACKINGS. 

Th9  Patent  Removable  Covering  for  Steam  and 

Water  Pipes. 
ITte  Patent  Air-S^aee  Covering  for  Boilen, 

Pipes  and  Flues. 

THE  CHALMERS-SPENCE  CO. 

DXTKOAK  MoQBEOOB.  Agent, 

Mechanics'  Exchange, 

B  and  O  Custom  House  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


James  Hill  IVIanufacturing  Co. 

If  ANUFACTUEKSS  07 

ROVING  CANS, 

FILLING  BOXES, 

and  CYLINDERS, 

ALSO, 

Buckets,  Chamber   Pails,   Ash   and 

Garbage  Cans. 

Galvanizing  and  Tinning. 

Rhode  Island  Galvanizing  Works, 

Cor.  Sprague,  Fuller  &  Westfield  Sts., 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

WM.  S.  SPOFFORD, 

MANTJFACTUREE  OF 

Plain  and  Fancy  Tubing, 

In  GU)ld,  German  Silyer,  Brass,  etc. 

Atomizer  Tubing  a  Specialty* 

BRASS  FINISHER, 

MODEL  MAKER, 

NOVELTIES,  &c 

Office  and  Factory,  42  Point  Street, 

PROVIBENCE,  B.  I. 

Westminster  Mfg.  Co. 

Brass  Finishing 

In  all  its  Branches, 

GAS  FITTINGS.  WATER  FILTERS, 

BEER  COCKS, 

13  MASON  STREET. 


AuansTua  S.  Millkr,  ORAa.  A.  Oamwill, 

President.  Treas.  and  Seo'y. 

American  Enamel  Oo. 

aOLB  MANUFACTUHBI18  OF   TUB 

PATENT  "ROYAL  ENAMEL" 

—AMI) — 

Patent  Wrought  Iron  Enameled  Water  Pipe^ 
Office,  17  Wsrren  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

H.  J.  Kim*.       Telephone  O«onection.      J.  Ricmabim. 

KING   &    RICHARDS, 

MANUFACT(rR«tt<«  AND  WnOLCRlLK    PBALBSa  IV 

WALNUT,  ASH  and  PINE 

CHAMBER  FURNITURE 

Cane  and  Wood  Seat  Chain,  Cottace  Bedateada,  Ma|> 
tresaea  and  Keathen ;  Hall  and  Omoa  rarnluura^ 

112  Dorrance  St.,      Providence,  R,  I. 


Congdon,  Carpenter  &  Co. 


ESTABLISHED  1790. 


IRON  AND  STEEL,  SHEET  IRON  and  METALS, 

Corrugated  Iron  for  Buildings. 

4** 

Anvils,  Bellows,  Forges,  Hammers, 

Stone-workers'  Tools,  Bolts,  &c.,  &c. 


WAGON  V  CARRIAGE  MATERIALS 


OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION, 


Harness,  Horse  Clothing  and  Saddlery  Hardware, 

*-^ 

CANAL,  ELIZABETH  and  NORTH  MAIN  STREETS, 


A,  HOlbbook,  Jr.        C.  W.  Holbrook,  2d. 
Geo.  a.  Holbbook. 

Established  1834. 

J.  A.  GOWDEY  &.  SON, 

MANUFACTUREES  OF 

A.&C.W.HOLBROOK, 

Reeds  and  prnesses 

.  Manufactubebs  op 

'-AMD— 

Y*                              Y^  1         1 

Dealers  in  Mill  Supplies, 

Loom  h\m, 

40  Clifford  Street,  Provideoce,  R.  I 

— AND — 

JOHN  McCAUSLAND  &  CO. 

MANUFACTDRERS  OF 

Other  Raw  Hide  Goods, 

Fine  Manilla  and  Yarn  Cop  Tnbes, 

— AI^O— 

22  Canal  Street. 

"Tenax"  Brand  of  Picker  Leatlier, 

CHARLES  E.  FRANKLAND. 

DEALER  IN 

roper  Stock  and  Metals, 

748  North  Main  Street, 

Manilla  Rope  and  Canvas, 

Bottles  Bought  and  Sold, 

160  South  Water  Street,  Comer  Cent  Strert, 

PROVn)ENCE,  R.  I. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 

HENRY  W.  HUDSON  &  CO. 


Cor.  Broad  and  Dorrance  Streets, 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  /. 


J.  0.  SAN  80UCI  &  GO. 

Boots,  Shoes  and  Rubbers, 


OLNEYVILLE. 


HOPE.  WEBBING  00. 

Ifuiafteturers  of  Cotton  Boot,  Oaiter  and  Stay 
▼eba,  Slipper  Webs,  Base  Ball  and  Cadet  Webs,  SWrt 
Vebs  and  Tapes,  Suspender  Webs,  Saddlery,  Halter 
and  Rein  Webbing,  Carpet  and  Blanket  Bindings, 
WicU&«,  Eto., 

47  Sprague  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

OburlM  SImob,  Treaa.  Oioar  ▲  St«ere.  Sopt 


norPIGB. 


SOMETHING  for  you  to  remem- 
ber. When  you  want  your  Linen 
to  Look  Nice,  go  to  THE  TROY  STEAM 
LAUNDRY,  67  Eddy  Street,  and  you 
will  be  suited.  The  very  best  work  at 
short  notice.  Goods  called  for  and  de- 
Uttered  to  all  parts  of  the  city. 

C.  A.  KILFOILE, 

Proprietor, 


f  amuel  Y  Irons, 


DEALER  IN 


REAR  OF  1061  HIGH  ST. 


E.W. 


MAMUFACTURBR  OF 


W?SLrp5,  Twine5,  • 

— S^5^  Cord— 
•    •    ^.nJ  Vick5, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. . 


BL  SICHARD60N. 


A.  J.  CBOSSMAH. 


RICHARDSON  &  GROSSMAN, 

Dkalxbs  at 

CI0II18,  tolmm  f  Idllors'  Triiniiiings 

181  BROAD  AND  8  UNION  STREETS, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


PX  FAIHANSON 

-^4P(IllOIS, 

92  Westminster  Street, 

8  doors  ab.  Arcade,  FroTldenoe,  B.  I. 
ELSBREE  &  VALLEAU, 

If  anofiMtareni  and  Dealers  la 

HATS,  CAPS,  FDRS 


Gentlemen's  Fnrnlsblng  Goods, 

Vo.  86  WESTMINSTER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


8oI«  Agents  for  Duvlap's  Hats. 


OWEN  E.  LEAVENS  &  CO. 
Gentlemen's  Fine  Mats 

and  Furnishing  Goods, 

58  WESTMINSTER  ST^ 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I 

«Glotbing- 

292  &  294  N.  Main  St.,  Oor.  Smith. 

WILLIAM  BARTON, 

Hatter  and  Fflrrier, 

Ifafy,  Caps  and  Furs^  Gents'  FitmisA' 
ing  GoodSy  Umbrellas^  Etc.^ 

239  WESTMINSTER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Gentlemen  and  Ladies: 

We  respectfully  request  your  personal  inspection  of  our  magnificent 
Stock. 

IN  OUR  MEN'S  DEPARTMENT 

you  will  find  Suits,  Overcoats  and  Trousers  in  a  bewildering  array  of  hand- 
some patterns,  well  calculated  to  please  the  most  captious  critic. 

IN  OUR  LADIES'  DEPARTMENT, 

may  be  found  an  unequalled  assortment  of  Cloaks,  Jackets,  Wraps,  Suits,  etc., 
in  all  the  latest  styles  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  manufacture. 

We  have  the  best  arranged  and  lighted  parlors  in  this  city,  thereby  afford- 
ing everyone  the  privilege  of  better  examining  the  color  and  material  of  our 
stock. 

We  would  particularly  call  the  attention  of  parents  to  our  admirable 
selection  of 

BOYS'  AND  CHILDREN'S  CLOTHING. 

In  addition  to  our  well-known  makes  we  have  placed  before  our  patrons 
the  goods  of 

BEST  &  CO.,  NEW  YORK, 

of  which  we  have  the  exclusive  sale  in  this  city. 

We  cordially  invite  you  to  call  and  examine  them. 

We  have  Novelties  in  Star  Shirt  Waists  and  Flannel  Blouses  always  in 
stock. 

Thanking  you  for  your  patronage  in  the  past,  and  requesting  it  for  the 
future,  we  remain.  Truly  yours, 

EDWARD  C.  ALMY  &  CO. 

WESTMINSTEE  STEEET,  OOE.  OF  EDDY. 


JEROME  KENNEDY  &  CO. 

Dealebs  IK 

READYlMADElCLOTHING, 

-*iFor  Men,  Yonths  and  Boysi*- 

120  Westminster  Street,  cor.  DorranceSt,,  Providence, 
and  170  Main  Street,  Woonsocket,  R.  I. 


TAYLOR,  SYMONDS  &  CO. 


JOBBERS  OF 


DRY  AND  FANCY  dOODS 

96  and  100  Weybosset  Street, 
PROVIDENOE,  R.  I. 


Callender,  McAuslan  &  Troup, 


mPOETEES  AND  DEALERS  IN 


{oieip  \  Domestic  Jrif  (jootfs 


2n7j  2Dg  and  211  ISTestminBter 
\  19  Unian  BtreetBj 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


ARTHUR  W.  DENNIS, 
Gotten  Broker, 

Ho.  4  Market  Square,  ProYidence,  R.  I. 

AUO,  REPBESEKTINO 

WOODWARD  &  STILLMAN, 
New  York. 


T.  T.  ALLAN, 

OKALKR   IN 

FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC 

Dhv^Goobs, 

1061  HIGH  STREET. 
H.  E.  SMITH  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  and  Dealers  in 

CDTTDN  YARNB 

A  specialty  of  supplying  Colored  Cotton 

Yarn  on  Jack  Spools,  and  Beams 

for  Woolen  Manufacturers, 

Office,  27  Custom  House  St. 


Shepard  &  Company, 

Best  Lighted  and  Appointed 

Jip|]oo[[§*E8t(ilili8limt 


IN  RHODE  ISLAND, 


HEADQUARTERS  FOR 


Sft  dliink,  Cfodkei^  ki\d  G^lk^^wki'e. 


Elegant  Upholstery  Work  a  Specialty, 


B.  H.  GLADDING  &  CO. 
Dry  Goods,  Fancy  Goods 

— AND— 

dpholstepy, 

93  Wiskinster  SL  k  32  EichaQge  Place, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  A 

9»  ■•  Hn*.  J.  B.  CatLB,  Jm.  Wu.  Axuwan. 


Or.  r>.  NELSON, 

Di'y  G[ood^, 

Small  ^Vares,  Notions 
Gents'  Furnishing  Goods, 

170  Charles  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  U 


R.  Berry  &  Co. 

Manufactcrers  or 

©oy^*  ki\d  }ii^^e^'  iJi^dei^wekf, 

— AND— 

LADIES'  JERSEY  VESTS, 
Corner  of  Elm  and  Butler  Streets, 


R.  BERRY,  Manager. 


THOS.  F.  PEIRCE&CO. 

Boots,  Shoes^^^ Rubbers 

19  TO  S5  J!^-Sj<djljd:hi, 
Providence,  R.  I. 


Bstabllshed  1793. 


Incorporated  1868. 


FLETCHER  MANUFAGTIIIG  GO. 

Manufacturers  of  small  Wares. 

Boot,  Shoe  and  Corset  Laoes, 

STOVE  WICKS  and  LAMP  WICKS 

Of  all  sixes,  in  BoUs,  or  Cat  into  Standard  Loigtha. 


Torch  Wicks  and  Fusee  Wicks.     Special  Wicks  to  Order.    Star,  QUci, 

Plain  Braids,  Bobbins,  Etc. 

Tarns  from.  No.  16  to  60,  in  Skeins,  on  Spools,  or  Ring  Tied.    Harness  and 
Twines;  Wrapping  Twine.    Braided  and  Twisted  Spindle  Banding. 


W^ILLIAM  B.  FLETCHER,  President. 
JOHN  8.  ORMSBEE,  Treasurer.  WILLIAM  AMES,  Secretary  and  Ageat. 

Factories,  rHOVIJOENCE,  22.  I. 

WAREHOUSES: 
New  York~18  and  20  Thomas  St.-W.  B.  Fletcher,  Agrt. 

Boston— 119  Franklin  St.— S.  G.  Trlppe,  Afft. 


F.  C.  SAN  SOUCI, 

DEALER  IN 

Boots,  Shoes  and  Rubbers, 

1083  High  St.,  Olneyville  Square. 

A.  W.  FENNER,  Jr. 

PRESCRIPTION  DRUGGIST, 

351  Westminster  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  f. 


H.  S.  HORTON  <&  CO. 

— AT— 

THE   WHITE   SHOE   STORE, 
86  fVestminater  Street. 

GhEO.  A.   ROSS, 

63  Camp  Street. 

Prescriptions  Carefollj  C<mipoanded. 

Patent  Medicines  at  Lowest  Prices. 


coon  11  iATii  oy  mi 


GAS  RANGES 

GAS  STOVES! 

FOR  SALE  OR  LEASE, 

No.  13  WESTMINSTER  STREET. 


No  Kindlings,  No  Ashes, 

No  Coal,  No  Smoke, 

No  Oil,  No  Dust, 

No  Labor,  No  Odor. 


Stoves  Delivered   and   Ranges   Set 
without  Extra  Charge  by 

PROVIDENCE  GAS  COMPANY. 


JAHES  E.  Cranston,  Prest.  Gabdlnjek  C  Sims,  Gen.  Manager. 

JOHH  W.  Daniblson,  yic«  Prest.  Thsosokb  AasBSWfl,  Smj* 

Pardon  Armington,  Treas. 

H.  C.  C&ANSTON,  Aast.  Tr«a8. 


\ 


!Eiiigine  Uampany^ 


CABLE  ADDRESS : 


pF^MINGSIMS,    ■     ■    ^I^OYIDBNGB. 

Brown  &  Sharpe  Mfg.  Co. 


MAKEES  OF 


►^-^^^-^^^ 


MACHINERY  UND I  TOOLS, 

Fravidence^   Rhode    Island^ 

UNITED  STATES. 


Eagle  Screw  Co.,  1838.    New  England  Screw  Co.,  1840. 


AMERICAN 


EW  COUP  ANY 


PROYIDEHCE,  R.  I,  D.S.i 


E.  G.  ANGELL,  C.  THURSTON, 

President.  Vice  President. 

WM.  H.  HENDERSON,  Treasurer. 

C.  T.  SALISBURY,  J.  A.  NEALEY, 

Agent.  Secretary. 


Granger  Foundry  and  Machine  Co. 


JMMlMatMWm^^ 


Bleaching,  Dyeing,  Finisliing  and  Paper 

MACHIMEMY  ^ 


HUSK,  PAPER  AND  COTTON  ROLLS, 

Calenders,    Mangles,    Drying    Machines,   Tentering 
Machines,  Hydraulic  Presses,  &c., 

Cor.  GASPEE  AND  FRANCIS  STREETS, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


W.  S.  GRANGER,  ...  Treasurer. 

FULLER  IRON   WORKS, 

FREDERIC  FULLER,  Agent, 

BUILDERS  OP 

Portable  and  Stationary  Steam  Engines 

Impboved  Hoisting  Enqenes  for  Quarries,  Ships,  Coal  Docks  and  Ice 

Elevators  a  Specialty,  Cast  Iron  Flange  and  Socket  Water,  Steam 

and  Gas  Pipe,  and  all  kinds  of  Machinery  Castings, 

OFFICE,  416  SOUTH  MAIN  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

niAMDim 
MACHINE  COMPANY. 


Grinding  and  Polishing  Ma- 
chinery in  all  Sizes  and  Every 
Description.  Send  for  Cata- 
logue. Correspondence 
Solicited. 


PROVIDENCE.        CHICAGO. 


Manufacturers  of 


D 


A 


E  UiEM 


"7S" 


SYSTEMS 


AND  APPARATUS 


79  FRANKLIN  STREET. 


BOSTON,  MASS., 


U.  S.  A 


NICHOLSON  FILE  CO. 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I, 


Files  ^  and  *  H^sps 


OF  EVERY  VARIETY. 


L.  W.  CLARKE, 

Electrician  and  Engineer 

FOR  "POLICE"  AND 

OTHER  MUNICIPAL  LINES 

SINCE   1873. 

186  Westminster  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

George  M.  Cruickshank, 

ENGINEER, 

AND 

Builder  of  Stationary,  Portable  and  Yacht 

ALSO. 

Kxperlmental,  Speciakl, 

and  Qeneral  Macbinery, 

280  to  286  Dyer  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  T. 


GEO.  W.  SIAFFOP 

MFG.  CO. 
5  Point  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Manufacttirhrs  op 
fflAGHINBRY 

inaiiaiiaiiaiiaiiaiiBiiaiiana-ia 

—FOR— 

FANGY  tOBAYINS 

•  oiiiiMiniMiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiaiiaMii 
OF  ALL  DKSCEIFTIONS. 

Correspondence  Solicited. 


Slater  Mill  ^  Power  Co 


PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 


FOR  RENTAL:-. 


Light  and  Gonvenient  Rooms.  Very  Reliable  Power. 
Rooms  Warmed  by  Steam.  All  Modern  Conveniences. 
Elevators  for  Freight  and  Passengers.  Fire  Escapes  on 
all  the  Buildings.  Buildings  Insure  at  Low  Rates.  Very 
Convenient  to  Post  Office  and  R.  R.  Depots. 


B.  HUNT,  JR.,  &  SONS, 


Paper  Stock,  Cotton  and  Woolen  Rags, 

OLP  IRON  AND  METALS, 

AB  Kinds  of  Bottles  Bought  and  Sold, 

2^  IS  ud  77  SoDth  Water  8t^  Proridenee,  R.  L 


BiB.P]ETTIS. 


J.  Hksbest  HioGnra. 


PEHIS  &  HIGGIN8, 

DEALERS  XS. 

Olilropndpttls 

301  Fountain  St,  Providence,  R.  L 

19  Peny  Street,  Central  Palls,  E.  I. 

1^ ^TELEPHONE % 


FOUNDED  1778. 

IIIII.IIIHIIIIMIIIIIIIIII 

Walter  Coleman  &  Sons, 

Tackle  Blocks,  Anchors  and  Chains,  Oars 
and  Rowlocks,  Hand  Lanterns,  Fancy  Spoon 
Oars,  Signal  Lanterns,  Sailmakers'  Hard- 
irsre,  Boatbuilders'  Trimmings,  and  a  Com- 
plite  Assortment  of  Brass  and  Galvanized 
Boat,  Tacht  and  Ship  Supplies,  and  Marine 
lUrdware  Generally, 

106  S.  WATER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


J.  R.  TOMPKINS, 

DEALER  IN 

Cotton  aiid  Woolen  Bags, 

Old  Iron,  Metals,  Bottles,  Ao, 

99  South  Water  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Edward  T.  George  &  Co. 

-fHARDWARE4- 

BUILDERS'    SUPPLIES, 

Agents  for  the  Best  Fire  and  Burglar  Proof 

Safes  on  Earth,  also,  Henry's  Awl 

Haft  and  Tools, 

81  Weybosset  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 
JAMES  0.  GOFP, 

Wholesale  and  Betall  Dealer  In 

Nayatt*  Brick,  *  Crockett's*  Lime, 

Pire  Brick,  Drain  Pipe,  Grindstones,  Ac, 
2,  4  and  6  Point  St.,  ProridcnM,  R.  L 

FENNER'S  FAVORITE  •  COMPOUND 

THE  BEST  BLOOD  PURIFIER  KNOWN, 
Fat  «ip  in  oae-qaart  bottlM,  Prioe,  T8  otats, 

ALBEET  PENNER,  Druggist, 

SP5  High  Street,  Providence.  B.  I. 


Bapstow  Stove  Go. 


Manufacturers  ob" 

o  -    .  ^    Bay  State  Furnaces, 

fiA^^ow  grove  Co.     \^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^ 

Garland  Oil  StoTCS. 

FOUNDRY  AT 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

salesrooms: 
280  Water  Street,  IJeTf  York. 

56  Union  Street,  Boston. 

l5ie  Barstow  Bay  State  Goods 
are  sold  by  the  Best  Dealers 
^Hnt*MTMp.mf  thronghout  the  Country. 

MOELOCE:  &  BAYER, 

Designers  and  Manufacturers  of 

A.RTISTIC  Furniture, 

ALSO, 

SgfjoijIi  Sawing,  ©ui^ning  and  ©af^ying, 
102  Dorrance  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

DAVOL  RUBBER  CO. 

Maniipactubebs  of 

Fine  Hubbep  Goods 


-FOB 


Druggists',  Surgical  and  Stationery  Trade, 

Special  Goods  Made  to  Order.  PROVIDENCE;  R.  I. 


M.  S.  Daniels.  James  Cornell.  C.  B.  Humphbet.  H.  P.  CoRNSUk 

DANIELS,  CORNELL  &  CO. 

Wholesale  x  Grocers 

AND  DEALERS  IN  FLOUR, 
DANIELS'  BLOCK,  26  fo  32  CUSTOM  HOUSE  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
Sam'l  S.  Spbagus.  Chas.  H.  Spragub.  Henst  S.  Spbagub 


S.  S.  SPRAGUE  &  CO. 


•^T^HOXjES-^^XjS 


G^Ain  FRerHGHADTS 


COLUMBIA  ELEYiTOR  AHD  GRAIK  MILLS, 

144  and  146  DYER  STREKT, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

DAY,  SONS  <&  CO. 

JOBBERS  OF 

FLDUR*  and  *  GRAIH, 

Nos.  106  and  108  DYER  STREET, 
PROVmBNOE,  R.  L 


W.  E.  BABBETT. 


G.  W.  WILLIAMS. 


W.A.FISK 


W.  E.  BARRETT  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  op  and  Dealers  in 

Agricultural  Implements, 

Seeds  of  all  Kinds,  Wooden-Ware  and  Fertilizers, 

PROVIDENCE,   R.   I. 


Eben  G.  Robinson  &  Co. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 

POULTRY^SUPPLIES, 

66    HIGH    STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

telephone. 

HAMLIN  JOHNSON  &  CO. 
Jl^ricuIIur^I^ 

Garden,  Field  and  Flower  Seeds, 

EBimlng  Tools  and  Machines.    State  Agents 

for  Stockbridgb  Manures  and 

Bowkkr's  Phosphates. 

2  EXCHANGE  PLACE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

F.J.  SHELDON, 

commission  merchant, 

127  WESTMINSTER  STREET, 

Phoenix  Building, 

PEOVIDENOE,  E.  I. 

by  Telephone. 


JOHN  H.  BARNEY, 

DEALER  IN 

Floup,  Gpain 

FINE  FEED,  OIL  MEAL,  &c., 

ALSO 

Baled  Hay  and  Stra-w, 
91  .Canal  StrBBt^ 

PROVIDENCE,  B.  I. 

Stephen  D.  Andrews, 

FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIO 


Baled  Hay  and  Straw,  Ground  Be«f 

Scraps,  and   Ground    Oyster 

Shells  for  Poultry, 

148  DYER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,   R.  I. 

F.  F.  KENDALL, 

Gommission  TVlerchant 

WHOLESALE  DEALER  IN 

fruits  and  Produce 

No.  103  CANAL  ST., 

PEOVIDEirOE,  B.  L 

Telephone  Call  133-2. 


W.  H.  DOUGHTY  &  CO. 


Manufacturers  of  and  Dealers  m 


Ice  Cream  and  Hulled  Corn, 

We  use  the  best  cream  in  the  manufacture  of  our  Ice  Cream — no  cheap 
stock  used.  Large  or  small  orders  delivered  at  short  notice.  Sunday 
orders  a  specialty.  Dishes  and  spoons  free  of  charge.  We  supply  Oak- 
land Beach  and  Field's  Point  with  our  Cream. 

W.   H.   DOUGHTY  &  CO., 

No.  79  FIFIELD  AVENUE,        -        PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

RICK  &  HAYWARD, 


-Manufacturers  oi 


CHOICE  » CRACKERS  *  AND  *BISCD1TS, 


434  and  440  BROAD  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

JOHN  H.  ALTHANS, 

Wholesale  and  Retail 

Fancy  Bakery  and  Ice  Cream  Manufactory 

147  to  167  Brook  Street,  Brancb,  621  to  626  Higb  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Our  Ice  Creams  are  of  the  finest  quality.  If  you  have  not  tried  them, 
please  give  them  a  trial.  Ask  for  one  of  our  price  lists.  Telephone 
Connection. 


WILLIAM  A.  WRIGHT, 

Bread,  Cake  I  Cracker  Baker 

No.  40  DEAN  STREET, 

TEOVIDEHOE,  B.  I. 


Families  supplied  with  Indian  Puddings. 
Baked  Beans  and  Hot  Brown  Bread  every 
Sonday  morning. 


YOUNG  BROTHERS, 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

Paper  Boxes  I  Mailing  Rolls, 

JEWELRY  DISPLAYING  PADS, 

SAMPLE  CASE  TEATS,  ETC, 

670  Eddy  Street,  corner  B/ackttone, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


XcruiAT,  Spotk  a  Co.,  Selling  Agtntiu 


-fSPELLMAN'S^ 

CELEBRATED 

USUAL  L0¥  PSIOES, 

Nos.  109  and  111  Park  Row, 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 

HENRY  W.DUNHAM,  Jr. 

(SMMMor  to  DUNHAM  k  AKDEBN^ 

Merchant  /.  Tailor, 

a?  WEYBOSSET  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

SWEENEY  &  BRI  \NAN, 

330  Westminster  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
0  Trinity  Square, 

PAWTUCKET,  R.  I. 


HiosJ.ChBce^Co. 

T 


I 

173  WESTMINSTER  ST., 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 

George  West, 

TAILOR 

189  BROAD  street, 
PROVIDENCE.  R.L 


J.  H.  PRESTON  &  CO. 

Commission  x  Merchants, 

AND  WE0LESAI2  DEALKBS  19  ALL  KINDS  OF 

FOREIGN   AND    DOMESTIC    FRUITS, 

COUNTRY    PRODUCE,  &c., 

11, 13, 15  and  17  Dyer  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


WX.  &  SWXKF. 


ESTABLISHED  1859. 
»-«-« 


W.  H.SWBXT. 


WM.  S.  SWEET  &  SON, 


-AVD  SXAl^EBS  IN- 


FRUITS  AND  VEGETABLES, 
06  and  97  Canal  St.,  Providence,  R.  L 


I..  H.  C0M8T0CK. 


T.  0.  BATES. 


GOMSTOGK  &  GO. 

— AND— 
WHOLESALE 

ProYision  Dealers, 

WJ  CANAL  STREET, 

PEOVIDENOE,  E.  I. 

GEORGE  R.  VIALL, 

Commission  Merchant 

Wholesale  Dealer  in 

FRESH  AND  SALT  BEEF, 
816  CANAL  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


HENRY  M.  KIMBALL, 

Provision  CuRER 

AND  SMOKER. 

Nos.  164  and  166  Pond  Street, 

PEOVIDENOE,  R.  I. 

MILES  H.  MASON, 
Wbolesale  Commission  Merchant 

AND  DEALER  IN 

Fresh  and  Salt  Beef, 

Tripe,  Bologna,  &o., 
105  CANAL  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

Telephone  Connection. 

Chas.  H.  Jefferds.  William  H.  Gay. 

John  E.  Sherman. 

C.  H.  JEFFERDS  &  CO. 

COMMISSION  MEEOHANTS, 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  la 

Meats  *  ancf^  Provisions 

Also  all  kinds  of  Poaltrj  and  Wild  Game. 
Corned  Beef  and  Beef  Tongues  a  specialty, 
and  ready  for  shipment  in  50,  100  and  200 
pound  packages. 

47  &  49  N.  Main  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Telephone  1930. 


I.  B.  MASON  &  SON, 

PACKERS  AND  WHOLESALE  DEALERS  IN 

FRESHmlSALTPORK, 

DEESSED  HOGS,  SHOULDERS,  HAMS, 

SAUSAGES,  BEEF  AND  POEK  TONGUES, 

LAED,  BAOON  AND  DRIED  BEEF, 

H^s.  88  and  89  CANAL  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


S.  p.  DOANK, 

Wholesale  and  Commisgioi  Dealer  in  all  kinds  of 


61  SOUTH  WATER  STREET, 

PEOVIDBNOE,  E.  I. 


H.  MIDWOOD  &  SONS, 


Wholesalers  of 


SALT  AND  CANNED  FISH 

CURERS  OF 

PINNAN  HADDIES, 
Nos.  38  and  40  Canal  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

JAMES  DIXON, 

Shipper  and  Dealer  in 

Fish,  *  Oysters,  *  Lobsters, 

LIVE  BAIT,  &c., 
45  SOUTH  WATER  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

GEO.  L  WINSHIP, 

LiYery  &  Boarding  Stable, 

w 

Post  Office  Court 


WL.   DEWING, 

(Suecessor  to  DEWING  &  MOKSELL.) 
Wholesale  and  Betail  Dealer  in 

yisb,  ©Jesters,  Gl<im8 

SCOLLOPS,  ETC. 

24  Exchange  Place,  Providence,  R.  L 


Oysters  put  up  in  the  best  manner  and 
sent  to  any  part  of  the  country.  I^ive  Bait 
constantly  on  hand.    Telephone  1562, 


KIMBALL  &  C0LW6LL, 

Packers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  ia 

Pork,  Lard,  Ham,  Sansage, 

BACON,  SHOULDERS.  DRESSED  HOGS,  kt^ 

247  and  249  Washington  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


J.  UNDERWOOD, 
HOPKINS   HOTEL  STABLE, 

DEALER  IN 

Road  and  General  Purpose  Horses, 
Rear  423  High  St.,  Providence,  R.  L 


L.  T.  GARDNER  &  CO. 

Commission  *  Merchants, 

DEALERS  IN 

All  Kinds  of  Country  Produce, 
86  Canal  Street,    Providence,  R.  I. 


Gbobok  D.  Kblly,  Thbodorb  Oaklbt, 

Fbakk  M.  Mathswsok,  Jahks  Niblo. 


•THE- 


0aI^dale^i^7Vlcinufaeturing^^Qo, 

ORANGE,  FRIENDSHIP  AND  PECK  STREETS, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

FINEST  QUALITY  BUTTERINE 

« • » 

Guaranteed  from  Pure  Materials,  and  of  Uniform  Qnailty  at  all  Times. 


GEO.  M.  GRIFFIN, 

WHOLESALE 

COMMISSION  MERCHANT, 

AND  DEALER  IN 

Poultry,  Vegetables,  Butter,  Cheese, 

Eggs,  Beans,  Apples  and 

Cranberries, 

Ho8.  94  and  95  CANAL  STEEET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.I. 


F.  E.  WINSOR  &  CO. 

Wholesale  Dealers  in 

Frnits,  Vegetables,  Ponltry, 

Oountry  Prodnce,  Etc., 

67  CANAL  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


S.    GARST= 


^hat  Gheep  Daipy, 


MANUFACTURER  OP 


Batter  and  Fancy  Creamery  Butterine, 

Office  and  Factory,  63  to  69  Peck  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

PROVIDENCE  BEEF  CO. 

SWIFT'S  *  CHICAGO*DRESSED  *BEEF 

AND   IVIUTTON, 

Nos.  262  TO  2B8  CANAL  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


H.  A.  GRIMWOOD  &  CO. 

Dealers  nr  aix  Kixds  of 


ROUGH  AND  DRESSED 

LUMBER 


Shingles,  Clapboards, 
Cutters,  Conductors 

and  Mouldings, 


Turrnd  and  Built  Newels^  Balusters^  Hand  Rail^  Turned  PostSy  Mantel 
Shelves,  etc.     Black  Walnut,  Ash,  White  Wood,  Chestnut,  &'c., 

597  HIGH  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

R.  B.  WiNSOR  &  Co. 

Successors  to  WnrsoB  &  Bbown, 

Ltimber  Dealers, 

BROAD    STREET, 

Oomer  of  Pbari.,      PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 

CAI£B  CI.  BUKBOWS.  JAMES  S.  EEIITOII. 

BURROWS  &  KENYON, 

Dealers ik 

Western  Pine  and  Hard  Wood  Lumber, 

Gtjttees,  Conductobs,  Doob  Frames  and  Mouldings  op  axl  Kinds^ 

Cor.  DEAN  AND  WASHINGTON  STREETS, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

J.  w.  POTTER.  J.  a  qardinee 

POTTER  &  GARDINER, 

Dealers  in 

No.    264   Eddy   Street, 

Manufacturers' Supplies  a  Specialty.  PROVIDENCE,    R.   L 


ProYlderice  Steam  and  Gas  Pipe  Co. 


Engineers  and  Contractors  for 


EplpmeRt  of  Meufdctories 

and  Public  Buildings 


WITH- 


STEAM  HEATING  AND  FIRE  EXTINGUISHING  APPARATUS. 


Wrought  and  Cast  Iron  Pipe  Fittings  for  Steam,  Water  and  Gas. 


Office  and  Salesroom  : 

135  EDDY  STREET. 


WORKS: 

Cor.  PINE  and  EDDY  STS. 


FREEBORN  JOHNSON, 

Contractor 
Builder, 

5  and  9  Custom  House  St. 
K,  W,  FRENCH,  Agt. 

.(Soooesior  to  D.  D.  SWBBT  &  CO.) 
DEALER  IN 

Dooi^s,  Sash, 

BLINDS  AND  GLASS, 
13  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

TEI.SPHOHK  COKNECTIOW. 


L.  F.  JOSLIN  &  SON, 

MANUFACTrjKKRS  OP 

DOORS,  8A8Hi  BLINDS 

AND  DEAI.EBS  IN 

Plate  and  Prenoh  Window  Glass, 

Flock  and  Stained  Glass, 

No.  431  Broad  Street, 

Cor.  of  Pearl,         PROVIDENCE,  R.'  I. 


T.  B.  ROSS  &  SON, 

Masons  v  Builders, 

Box  47  Mechanic  Exchangb, 

7  and  9  Custom  House  St., 

Or,  75  and  77  Governor  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


WM.  G.  R.  MOWRY,  Agt. 


LUMBER 


JLt  WhDlesailB 
.'.    and  Retailj 


No.  4:57  South  Main  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  M.  I. 

MrLLS  AT  Bethlehem,  N.  H.       Orders  Promptly  Attended  to. 


EDMUND  CARPENTER, 

Eastern,  Western  and 

Hardwood  xluniber, 

Ho.  270  DYER  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

WM.  SWEENEY, 

Manufacturer  and  Dealer  in 

Mattresses 

OF  ALL   KINDS, 

FEATHERS  AND  BEDDING, 
122  N.  MAIN  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  f. 


N.  V.  Stanton. 


A.  T.  Farnum. 


STANTON  &  FARNUM, 

Successors  to  C.  P   LOBDELL, 

ARTISTIC 

Marble  and  Branite 
-^ISTarkersi^ 

575  High  St.,  Providence,  R.  i. 

A  large  assortment  of  monuments  and 
tablets  constantly  on  hand.  Granite  monu- 
ments and  headstones.  Marble  and  marble- 
ized  slaie  mantles  a  specialty.  Telephone 
connection.    Inspection  solicited. 

Heprestnted  by  JAS.  WARREN,  Jr. 


BALLOU  &  MARKHAM, 

JOBBERS  OF 

Wooden  and  Willow  Ware,  Paper  Ware, 

White   Granite  and  C.  C.  Crockery, 

Yellow  and  Rockinghana  Ware, 

Stoneware,  Glassware,  Table 

Cutlery,     Lamp     Goods, 

Pieced  and  Stamped 

Tinware, 

Oil  Cloths,  Refrigerators,  ftc, 

No  Goods  at  Retail^ 

101  to  111  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


TOTE  \  HOLMES, 

Marble  and  Granite 
^Works?^ 

No.  5  DOYLE  AVENUE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Marble  and  Granite  Monuments^ 
Gravestones^  Marble  and  Marbleized 
Slate  Mantels,  Washbowl  Slabs  and 
Granite  Work  for  Cemeteries  fur- 
nished to  order. 


Srancb  Avenue  and  Pawtucket  Horse  Can 

pass  every  five  minutes. 


MUSIC*  HALL 

PRmrinENCE,  r.  i. 


Stage  j8xij-6j  making  accommodations  for  an  Orchestra  of 

Sixty  performers,  and  Seating  Capacity  in  Rear  of  Stage 

for  a  Chorus  of  Three  Hundred  Singers.      There  are 

ample  facutnes  for  Clearing  the  Hall,  as  it  has 

THREE  EXITS,  with  an  aggregate:  Width  of 

22  feet.     Its  Accoustic  Properties 

are  Unsurpassed,   • 

Geo.  S.  Bai^stow,       -       -       -       GQanagbi^, 

Westminster  Musee, 

PROVIDENCE,   R.   I. 


»<  A*¥   »< 


The  most  elegant  place  of  amusement  of  its  kind  in  the 
world.  A  family  resort  in  the  strictest  sense,  exhibiting  all 
that  is  wonderful  in  nature,  all  that  is  pleasing  in  art. 


OPBN  J>AITjY  from  12.S0  TO  10.30  P.  iff.        ADMISSION  10  CXSNTB, 

MACOMBER  &  STONE,  Proprietors. 

JESSE  P.  EDDY  &  CO. 

DEALERS  IN 

RINE    CIGARS, 

No.   129  to  135    Dyer  Street, 
Providence,  R.  I. 


FRITZ  KIESS, 

RHODE  ISLAND  HOUSE 

68  Pine  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


JOHN    PRIOR, 

261  and  263  Canal  St, 

Providence,  R.  I. 


WM.  SMITH.  WM.  SMITH,  Jr.  DAVID  N.  SMITH. 

WM.  SMITH  &  CO. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


^  t_^iigY^^-— *  » 


Qald  ^  Silver  ClisLins, 


'F^^^^^'— » 


^qv  *^ 


Jewhlry,  Ktc. 

Office:  jj  Maiden  Lane^  New  York, 

Manufactory :  6i  Peck  St,  Providence,  R.  L 

Edwin   Lowb, 

Successor  to  Thomas  H.  Lows  A  Sow, 

GDLII  PLATER, 


Mavuvactusbs  or 


Rolled  Gold  Plate  and  all  kinds  of  Fancy  Wires, 

No.  82  Clikford  Street, 

PROVEDENOE,  R.  I. 


Goi^am/Vf^g  (9 

^SILVei^MITHV 

Broadway  and  19th  St.  and  9  Maiden  Lane, 
NEW    YORK. 


Factories  at 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Branch  Offices  at 
Chicago  and  San  Francisco. 


KENT  &  STANLEY, 

(SoooeMon  to  Wm.  H.  Robimsoh  &  Co.), 

MANUFACTURING 

JEWELERS 


Plate  and  SUrer  Chains  a  Specialty, 

No.  9  EDDY  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Walter  S.  Hoof  ta,  Jr. 


OhM.  ▲.  Wilkinson. 


W.  $.  HOUGH,  JR.,  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURING 

Lockets  and  Obarnis  a  Speoialtj, 

PAOTOEY-71  PEOK  STEEET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

New  York  OflSce,  20  Maiden  Lane. 


J.  A.  FOSTER  &  CO. 

45DORRAN0E  STREET 


PROVIDENCE,  R. 

DXALSRS  IN 


UatcEes,  diamonds  and  leroefrj* 

AND  DMEDEEMED  PLEDGES  OF  ALL  mW, 

DIAMONDS  A  SPECIALTY, 
MONEY  LOANED  ON  EVERYTHINQ. 


PARIS  MFG.  COMPANY, 

MANUFACTURUIS  OP 

FANCY -ARTICLES- and -NOVELTIES 

rOR  LADIES'  WEAB, 

No.  15  West  Exchange  Street. 

,F.  O.  BOX  1092. 

Barker  Manufacturing  Co. 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

PATENT  STIFFENED  GOLD  THIMBLES 

And  Fine  Boiled  Odd  Plated  J£W£IiBT, 

No.  38  Friendship  Street, 

p.  O.  Box  Ua.  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


S.  &  B.  LEDERER, 

Manufaciurers  of 
Trade— X.  L,  N.   T,—Mark. 

Fire- Gilt  and  Patent  Extension  Chains^ 

ALSO, — 


\  ROLLED 


CHAINS^ 


■RINGS— 
FJNS 


PLATES 


Factory  and  Office:  \ 

Ms.  66-72  STE  WAR  T  STREE  T,    I 

PROVIDENCE,  R,  I.  I 


Branch  Office: 

No,  202  BROAD  WA  K, 

NEW  YORK, 


Established 
1849. 


J.    BRIGGS  &  SONS, 


Established 
1849. 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  PLATERS, 

No.   65   Clifford   Street,    Providence,   R.   I. 

MANDFACTURBRS  AKD  DEALERS  IN 

Jewelers'  Plate,  Wire,  etc.,  Square,  Flat  and  Fancv  Wire  of  all  kinds.    Gold  on  the  Side  and 
Gold  on  the  Edge  Wire.    Half  Round  Ring  Wire  with  Gold  Soldered  Seam,  making 
it  Seamless.    Stkiped  Plate,  all  Colors  and  Karats  of  Flat  Plate,  any 
Width  and  Thickness  Desired.    Gold,  Silver  and  Brass  Solders.    We 
make,  in  addition  to  all  kinds  of  Plate  and  Wire  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  Jewelry,  Stock  especially 
adapted  to  the  manufacture  of 
WE  MAKE  )  Cane  Heads,  Umbrella  Mountings,  Pencil-Cases,  Watch-Cases.  Watch- 
V  Crowns,  Thimbles.  Spectacle  and  Eye-Glass  Bows,  Diamond  llount- 

STOCK  FOR)  ing,  Ac,  Ac.,  Ac.,  Ac. 


ESTABLISHED  1849. 

HENRY   BLUNDELL  &    CO. 

FRachinists, 

Ani  Manufacturers  of  Jewelers^  7bof<, 
Office  and  KknarMtorr, 

35,  37  and  39  Clifford  Street,  PROVIDEKCK,  R.  L 

J.  H.  &  C.  C.  ORPIN  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  of 

JEWELERS'  6H.S  Fa^HCElS 

For  Melting,  ReBuing.  Assaviug,  Plating,  Enamel- 

ing,  Tempering,  Annealing,  Soldering, 

"  Boiling  Out."  etc. 

BTBAM   AND   GAS   FITTERS.     Estimates  Made  «a 

Special  Kinds  of  Furnaces.    Gas  Furnaces  of  all 

Makes  Repaired  and  Relined  at  Shun  Notice. 

42  PoUer  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

THOMAS  F.  ARNOLD, 

to  JkRNOLD  ft  WEBSTSB, 


Manufacturer  of 

•Stone*and*Band*Rings® 

FACTORY : 

29  POINT  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Selling  Agent— H.  W.  STEERK 


STEPHEN  PAINE, 

Manufacturer  and  Dealer  in 

DFTIBAL  CD  DUB, 

No.  66  Westminster  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.    . 

6«o.  B.  Taj  lor.  Wm.  B.  Ti^Ior. 

GEO.  H.  TAYLOR  &  CO. 

Importer*  of  «Dd  Jobbers  in 

Watches,  Clocks,  Watch  and  Olook 

Materials,  Tools, 

136  WESTMINSTER  ST.,  FfiOVlDEKCB,  S.  L 

B.  E.  DAGGETT  &  CO. 
Manufacturing  Jewelers 

44  Arnold  St,  Corner  Brook, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Fine  Plated  Rings  a  Specialty % 


Union  Eyelet  Co. 

MANaFACTURERS  OF 

Jewelry,  Eyelets,  Lacing  Hooks, 

Excelsior  Button  Fastener, 

And  Novelties  in   Brass, 

FACTORY, 

iTo-  '^'7'  BorcLeaa.  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 


T.  E.  CARPENTER, 

MAKUFACTURER  OF 

Gold,  Seal  and  Stone  Rings, 

AND 

DIAMOND  MOUNTINGS, 
No.  53  Clifford  Street, 

P.O.  Box 302.  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Telephone  715-4. 

N.  B.  NICKERSON  &  CO. 

Saccessors  to  Pierce  k  Nlckerson, 

Manufacturing  -Jewelers, 

IiMe  Pins  a  Specialty.    A  fuli  line  of  White  Stone 

OoodH,    Collar    Buttons,    Studs,    Drops,  in 

Silver  and  Plate.    A  large  line  of  Flat 

Goods  constantly  on  hand. 

27  PAGE  STREET,    -    PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
R.  S.  CUTTING  A.  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

FINE  ROLLED- PLATE  JEWELRY, 

Lever  Collar  Buttons  a  Specialty, 

409  PINE  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

New  York  Office,  !(H  Duane  Street, 

Represented  by  Wm.  W.  Knight. 

Ribbon  Badges  and  Rosettes^ 

FOB  ALL  SOCIETIES, 
Emblematical    Ribbon    Bars   a   Specialty, 

Plain  and  Fancy  Bali  Programmes. 

WBITB  FOR  PRICKM. 

WM.     R.     BRO>?VN, 

77  Dorranoa  Street. 


G.  B.  WILLIS  &  CO. 

27  Page  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


ALBERT  LORSCH  &  CO. 
and  $mif dtfott 

NOVELTIES. 

NEW  YORK- 

37  Maiden  Lane.  P.  0.  Box  2139. 

PROVIDENCE: 

179  Broad  Street.  P.  0.  Box  941. 

Telephone  Connection. 

D.  &  M.  BRUHL, 

IMPORTERS  OF 

Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones, 

14  MAIDEN  LANE, 
NEW  YORK. 


ProTidence  OflSce: 

L.  LILIENTHAL, 
P.  O.  Box  105.  Ill  Broad  Stbbet. 


S.  B.CHAMPLIN&SON, 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

SoiiiD  *  Gold  *  FJings, 


67  Frier  c8    ip  Street, 

PROVIOt-nlCE,  R.  I. 
F.  K.  Capsom.  H.  S.  Capbok. 

CAPRON  &  CO. 

Manufacturing  Jewelers, 

407  Pine  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

E.  R.  Kipling.  J.  B.  Kiplino,  SpeoiaL 

Successors  to  E.  S.  &  A.  W.  Kipling, 


DEALERS  IN 


Precious  and  Imitation  Stones, 

95  Pine  Street.  ProTidence. 

Pabis,  I  Roe  Richer.  New  7okk,  6  Maiden  Lan*. 

J.  O.  LEWIS  «fe  CO. 

Manufacturers  of  Jewelry 

Rolled  Plate  Chains  a  Specialty', 

Rye  Glass  in  Gold  and  Plate, 

30  Page  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


J.  B.  MATHEWSON  &  CO. 

HPUfAGTiliG  JEWELERS 

OKKICE^: 

Qo  Maiden  Lane,  New  York. 

FACTORY-61   PECK  STREET,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


GEO.  L  VOSE  &  CO. 

59  CLIFFORD  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I., 

Soi.«   MANPFACraKlBS   OF  TUB 

Original  Separable  Sleeve  and  Collar  Button 

iR  Gold  and  Gold  Front.    Also,  Manu- 

/aclurers  of  the  Double  Lock 

Boiler  Chain  and 

Bracelets. 


Reynolds  Jewelry  Co. 

Manufactdbers  07 

JloveltieSi^Jewelrii 

13  MASON  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  B.  L 

Telkphonb  417-5. 

A.  T.  WALL  &  CO. 


HOWARD  &  SON, 

MAKKKS  or 

JKWELRY 

Amesicak  Lever  Cdff  and  Collab 

Bdttons  in  Fine  Bollsd 

Gold  Plate, 

No.  102  ORANGE  STREET, 

PEOVIDENCE,  E.  L,  U.  8.  A. 
New  York  Office— 176  Broadway. 


B.  L.  MOOBHEAD. 


RL.LOGKB. 


Manufacturers  of 


GOLD  AND  SILVER 

oiled  ^?lkte 


AND  PLATED 

KODSD.  FLAT,  i^QDARB  AND  FANCY  W1RK8. 

21  Snow  St.,  ProYidence,  B.  I. 


i( 


R.  L  MOORHEAD  &  GO. 

Manufacturing 
Jewelers, 

53  ©LIFFORD  STREET, 

Cop.  eddy,        PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

New  York  Office,  202  Broadway. 

SLSE7E  BUTTOITS,  LIKZ  B7TT01TS,  COLLAS 

BUTTOITS,  STUDS  and  SCASF  FIITS, 

m  BOLLED  FLATE. 

0.  C.  DEVEREUX  &  CO. 

manufacturers  of 

Patent  "  Ston/ne  "  Jewelry, 

FACTORY,  224  EDDY  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

New  York  Office— 102  Chambebs  9r^ 
T.  A.  REYNOLDS. 


J.  B.  &  S.  M.  KNOWLES, 

MAKUFACTVRERS  OF 


SterlJGg  Silver  Ware 

95  Pine  Street,  ProYidence,  R.  I. 

New  York  Salesroom, 
20  MAIDEN  LANE. 

JOHN  HOAGLAND  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  of 

Gold  Pens,  Holders, 

PEHCILS  AND  TOOTHPICKS, 

No.  IT  Warren  Street, 
.  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

E.  H.  REYNOLDS  CO. 

Joseph  L.  Reynolds,  Agent. 
Manufacturers  of  6old  and  Silver 

ROLLED  PLATE, 

Gold  and  Plated  Wires,  Etc., 
No.  117  Dorrance  St.,  Providence,  R.  1. 

TKI.EPHONE  CONNECJTIOK. 

M.  Stelnert  &  Sons, 

FOREIGN  AND  AMERICAN  SHEET 
MUSIC, 

• 

192  to  198  Westminster  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Josiah  Walsham, 


MANUFACTURER  OP 


-OfARTISTICi^ 

Articles  in  Metal, 


57  BEVERLY  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

T^homas  W.  Wnd, 

MANDFACTUKER  OF 

JEWELERS'  FINDINGS, 

Swiss,  French  and  other  Ornamental  Ston* 
Settings,  in  Gold,  Silver  Plate,  Ger- 
man Silver  and  Brass. 

Settings  a  Specialty. 

Telephone  Connection. 

35  POTTER  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


ATTENTION  POLICE! 

The  Only  Reliable  Rubber  Coat. 
THE  GOODYEAR  GOLD  SEAL 


SPECIAL  POLICE  COAT. 

HOPE  RUBBER  CO. 

J.  F.HAYWARD&CO. 

83  Westminster  St. 
John  J.  Oiucartin. 


FRDVISENCE 

Opbi^a  F^ousb, 

ROBERT  MORROW,  -  Manager, 
Dorrance  Street,  Providence,  E.  I. 


None  but  First-Class  Attractions  are 
engaged  at  tbis  Boose. 


JAMES  CALLAGHAN  6l  SON, 

Gold,  Silver,  Nickel  and  Brass 

E led  no  Platers 

AndColorkrsof  ALL  Kinds  op  Jewklky, 
f         34.    POTTER    STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

H.  C.  \A^HITTIER, 

IDiamond  IDealep, 

174  Westminster  Street,  ProYidenc^  R.  i, 

Boom  2,  f  >  One  Flight  only. 

Vaanfketorerof  So'ii  Oold  Jpwelrv.     Rppsirinp  aektly 

•xecat«d.     Holmes"  Klectric  ProcecUea. 


J.  PUTNEY, 
.-.DP  TIC  I  AN.-. 

No.  48  Westminster  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

SpedacUi  and  Eye-Glouses  oj  eieri/  carie^ 

be-d  adapted  to  the  '•.yti. 

American  Nickel  Plating  Co. 

212  EDDY  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Edward  Parkinson,     -    -    -     Treasurer. 


JOHN  AUSTIN  &  SON, 

Gold  and  SilYcr  Refiners,  Assayers  and  Sielters, 

74  and  76  CLIFFORD  ST.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Wuta  of  »11  kinds  containiog  Gold  and  .Silver  Refined.  W«  do  our  own  SmelUng. 


B.  A.  Ballou. 


J.  J.  Fry. 


B.  A.  Ballon  &  Co. 


Mantjfactubers  of 


^!^m. 


Gold  JewBliif 


61  ^ch  ^t^cd^ 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Kew  York  Office, 

No.  10  Maiden  liane. 


Merchant. 
49  Rue  de  1'  Echlqaier,  Pari«« 

R.  A.  KIPLING, 
imitation  ^ton««> 

92  PINE  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  U 


IbnaCutnrer  of  C&meoi,  Agatet.  Onyx,  fto., 

Oberitein,  Oennmnj. 


CHARLES  F.  IRONS, 

MAMUFACTDRER  OV 

Solid  Grold  l<ii\blein^ 

SPECIALTY: 

Pins  and  Charms,  Masonic, 
Odd  Fellows,  &c. 

102   FRIENDSHIP    STREET, 

^MOriDENCE,  JB.  J. 


W.  R.  IIIGHPS, 


XAnaFACTURBS  09 


Jewelry 

107  Friendship  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


Eepbesentkd  by 

•W.  H.  WILLIAMS, 
No.  176  Broadway,  New  York. 


J.  F.  Hopkinson  &  Go. 


MANUFACTURERS  OP 


JEWELRY 

202  Broadway, 

NEW  YORK. 


Factory, 


'  80  Page  St.,  Providence,  R.  L 

MacNair  &  Bnrlingame, 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

Jewelers'  Findings 

— AND— 

Material  for  Repairing  Jewelry, 

226  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


FosiPEi^  ^  Bailey, 


♦  >♦<♦ 


Manufacturing  *  Jewelerg 


♦  >♦<» 


Providkncb,  R.  I 


F.  T.  PEARCE  &  CO. 

Sncoessors  to  Peasck  t  BoAeLiMS, 

GOLD  PENS,  PEN  HOLDERS, 

PENCILS  and  TOOTHPICKS, 

Sole  ManafaoturerB  of  the 

QUILL  RESERVE  TOOTHPICK. 

Office  and  Works,  29  Point  Street, 

PEOVIDENOE,  E.  I. 

Vew  Tork  Office,  116  Broadway,  Boom  ^. 

JOHN  A.  McCLOY, 

Agent, 

Manufacturing  «  Jeweler, 

183  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

IT,  A.  Bkjttt  3.  Loramoi*. 

-W.  A.  BEATTY  &  CO. 

IIAMOFACTURERS  0» 

Oold  and  Roll  Plate  Jewelry 

6i  Peck  St.,  Providence  R.  I. 

Bepre»ented  by  F.  T    CHAPMAN. 

Jewclen'  Exchange,  Agtor  Honae,  New  Yorti 

H.  LUDWIG  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  of  Plated  Jewelry 

195  Eddj  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Hew  York  Office,  419  and  421  Broadway. 

R.  BRADLEY  <fe  SONS, 

MANUFACTUBSRS  0» 

Fine  Imitation  Diamond  Jewelry 

IN  SOLID  GOLD. 

Abo,  IfoTcItiei  in  Real  Pearls,  Opali,  Garaeti,  ie. 
227  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  B.  I. 


H.  G.  Hacxinxxt.  a.  J.  Biam. 

Mackinney,  Smith  &  Co. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 
"the  BOSS"  SETTINQ. 

AI^O, 

Imitation  Diamond  and  Rhine 
Stone  Goods, 

54  Page  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

New  York  Office,  5?  Maiden  Lane. 

Philadelphia  Office,  926  Chestnut  Street. 

Boston  Office,  50  BromOeld  StrMl 

S.  HUTCHINS  &  CO. 
Manufacturing  %  Jewelers, 

Specialty  I  Solid  Gold  Stone  Rings, 
237  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Mew  York  Sample  Office,  194  Broadwaj. 

E.  B.  INGRAHAM, 
Manufacturing  Jeweler 

29  Point  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

LEEDER  &  BERNKOPH, 

IMPORTERS  OP 

Precious  and  Imitation  Stones, 

59  Dorrance  St., 

Providence,  R.  I. 


Taoa.  B.  Vsxnbbbbck. 


C.  J.  OLaas. 


VENNERBECK&CLASE, 
Gold  and  Silver  Platers, 

107  Friendship  St,,  Providence,  R.  I. 


W.  8.  Godfrey.  G.  E.  Adams. 

GODFREY  &  ADAMS, 

MANUFACTURING 

Jewelers 

77  WESTFIELD  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.I. 

NATH'L  BARSTOW  &  CO. 

(Succeasora  to  Bakstow  &  Ldtheb,) 

Manufacturers  of  Jewelry 

Cor.  £ddy  &  Point  Streets, 

Ktm  York  OfiBce,  o        ■  J  D     i 

176BROAOWAT.         rrovidencei  n.  I. 


▲.  ■.  DlCKKBSON. 


J.  D1OKKB8OX. 


DICKERSON  BROS. 

MANUFACTURING  JEWELERS 

29  Point  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

KIBBT,  MOWBYS  CO. 

MANUPACraBERS  OF 

Solid  Gold  Je^?v^elry, 

Also,  Diamond  and  Ponrl  Jewelry. 
ImiUtioa  DimmuDd  Work  a  Specialty, 

Diamond  Uoanting,  fte. 

OFFICE  AMD  FACTORY, 

117  Harrlgon  Street,  Providence,  R.  1. 

M.  D.  ROTHSCHILD, 

Importer  of  Precious  Stones 

41  &  43  Maiden  Lane, 

New  York. 

32  Rue  Elienne  Marcel,  Paris. 


42  Weybosset  St., 
Providence,  R.  I. 


^VM.  L.  BALLOU, 

Makufacturbr  of  Noveltim  in 

SOLID  STERLING  SILVER 

elBWBLI^Y, 

Also,  Importer  of  and  Wholesale  Dealer  in 

Diamonds, 

No.  80  CLIFFORD  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,   R.  I. 


HANCOCK,  BECKER  &  CO. 

MAITUFACTUBERS  OV 

Imitation 

3l3tatnonik 

No.  40  Oliflford  Street, 

NewYortOffice.      PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

No.  196  Broadway. 

POTTER  &  BUFFINTON, 

MANUFACTUREES  OF 

SOLID  GOLD  JEWELRY 

19  SNOW  STREET, 
New  York  Office.  Provt'defice,  R.  /. 

176  Bkoadway. 

CLARKE,  BLACK  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

SOLID  GOLD  and  STOCK  PUTE  RINGS 

Jet  Pins  and  Novelties, 

No.  13  Mason  St.,     Providence,  R.  I. 

JOSHUA  GRAY, 
Waltham,  Elgin  and  Swiss  Watches 

Diamonds,  Fine  Jewelry, 

Solid  Silver  and  Plated  Warb, 

Wholesale  and  Retail, 

241  "Westminster  Street,  Providence,  B.  L 

Watches  and  Jewelry  Repaired. 

RICHMOND  &  CO., 

Diamonds,  Pearls, 

And  makers  of  Solid  Gold  Stone  Rings.  The  RichmonA 
Patent  White  Stone  Rings;  also,  Plain  Half  Round 
Filled  Rings.  Specialties:  Cameos,  Turquoise,  Opal, 
Moon  Stone.  (Jarnet,  Topaz,  Araeihyst. 

102  Friendship  St.,    -    Providence,  R.  L 

Hew  York  Office,  176  Broadway. 

Chicago  Office,  155  SUte  Btroei, 

HARVEY  &  OTIS, 

manufacturers  OF 

Solid  Gold  EinMem 

Pins,  Charms, 
and  Lodge  Jewels, 

HKNRY  W.  HARVKY,  jqO    VAA^   0«.i..* 

SAMUEL  A.  OTIS.         183  Eddj  Str8eL 


•  H.«&H. 

(Trade  Ibrk.) 


HAMILTON  &  HAMILTON,  Jr., 
MANUFACTURING  JEWELERS, 

226  EDDY  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  U.  S.  A. 


Makers  of 

Rolled  Gold 

Plated  Cliains. 


New  York  Office, 

Z76  Broadway. 


N.  Y.  Office,  196  Broadway. 


DUNHAM  &  TOWNE, 

(Successors  to  Smith,  Dunhjtm  k  Co.) 
Manvfacturers  of 

Rolled  V\^X^  (ybXn, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Gents'  Vest  Chains.    Ladies',  Misses'  and 

Infants'  Neck  Chains.    Ladies'  Guard 

an^  Vest  Chains  with  Solid 

Gold  Slides. 

John  T.  Caddy.  Michael  W.  Cuddy. 

JOHN  T.  CUDDY  &  CO. 

Manufacturers  of  a 

GENERAL  LINE  OF  JEWELRY, 

Brooch  Pins.  Bar  Pins,  Drops  and  Scarf 
Pins  a  Specialty. 

25  Caleuder  Street,  Providence,  R.  L 


F,  Seery.  Sidney  L.  Clark 

Seery  Manufacturing  Company, 


MANnFACTURKKS  OF 


*   Fire-GHt,  Nickel  and  Electro-Plaie 

H»CHAINS4- 

AUo,  Rolled-Plate  Charms  and  Specialtiea, 

33  B0EELI  STREET,  PKOVIUEHCE,  B.  L 

BROWN  &  QUARTERS, 

(Soooesaon  to  H.  B.  Brown  &  Co.) 

ELECTRO  PLATERS 


197  Eddy  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 
WM.  M.  FISHER  &  CO. 

fiold  and  Silver  Chain  Manufacturers. 

TrimmiDgi  of  all  kinds  in  Gold  and  Silver.    Pat- 
entees of  the  Oval  Split  Rings.    Sole  AgenU 
for  English  &  Miller's  Rings. 

Factory— ^^  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  22. 1. 
NEW  YORK  OFFICE— 176  Broadway. 


PH.  RILEY  &  CO. 

Manufacturing 
*    «-    Jewelers, 

77  WESTFIELD  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Sepnsented  \yj  W.  H.  SMITH. 

P.  &  A.  LINTON, 

MAN0FACTURBKS   OF 

Rolled  Plate  Jewelry  and  Bracelets 

Fine  Coral  Wire  Goods  a  Specialty, 
54  PAGE   STREET. 

PE.OVIDENCB.  B.  1. 
J.  Hearn.  W.  J.  Braitsch. 

HEAEN  &  BRAITSCH, 


MAKBKS   OF 


Gold  i  and  t  SllY&r-Headed  t  Canes, 

111  BROAD  STREET,  PROYlDEi\CB,  R.  L 
New  York  Office,  416  Broadway. 

R.  &.  F.  J.  SKUCE, 
ENAMELERS 

Gold,  Silver  and  Plated  Jewelry 

Enameled  in  all  Colors, 

7/  Clifford  St,  Providence,  R.  /. 
GEO.  H.  STURDY, 

-^^  Electro  _Plate  r  ^^ 

No.  35  POTTER   STREET, 
PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 


Acme  Lever  Buttons, 


FRED.  I.  MARCY  &  CO. 


Ne-w  York  Office:  Factory: 

198  BROADWAY.  Ij  PROVIDEJS^CE,  R.  I. 


TI^-S-    OTJI^ 


Sensible  Collar  Button  and  Scarf  Holder. 


J.  p.  CORY, 

Manitpactubino 

Scarf  Pins  and  Ladled  Bar  Pins 
a  Specialty. 

Oonfirress  Ave.,  near  Broad  St. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

ATWOOD  &  COLWELL, 

Makitfactubebs  of 

Fine  Rolled  Plated  Chains 

No.  13  Mason  Street, 

^ro.^M*B?Sdw.y.  ProYldence,  R.  I. 


HENRY    READ, 

Successor  to  Fby  <fe  Bead, 

MAUUFACTUKBB  OF 

Sterling  Silver  Jewelry 

OuB  Specialties: 

Old  Soman  and  Grecian  Headi^, 
40  Potter  Street,  -  Providence,  R.  I. 

LADD  WATCH  CASE  CO. 

Manufactubebs  of  thb 
Ladd  Patent  Standard  Stiffened 

GOLD  WATCH  CASES, 

104  Eddy  Street 

Office  akd  Sai.k8boox, 
11  Maiden  Lane,  -  New  Yorkj 


Crossiii  \  Tucker, 


Manufacturers  of 


nmttm«mt«t«mmffluttttttmti«t 


409  Pine  Street, 

PEOYIDENOE,  fi.  I. 


SMITH  &  GREENE, 

MANUFACTUKERS  OP 

FINE  ROLLED  PLATE  CHAINS 

NO.  80  CLIFFORD  ST., 
..•.SMITH.  Providence,  R.  I. 


O.  H.  HOLMES  &  CO. 

Mannfactnring  Jewelers 

78  FriendsMp  Street. 

HUTCHISON  &  HUESTIS, 

Manufactxtbers  of 

Solid  t  Gold  t  stone  t  Rings 

185  EDDY  STREET, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

N»w  York  Offick, 

196  BROADWAY. 


George  Owen, 
Smith  Owen, 


Jas.  p.  Snow, 
C.  E.  Westcott* 


G.  &  8.  OWEN  &  CO. 

Manufacturing 

JEWELERS 

office: 

No.  3  Maiden  Lane, 

NETAT  YO^K. 
Maiojfactobt: 

COR.  SHOW  AND  CHAPEL  STREETS^ 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
WATERBURY  BRASS  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

BRASS, 

German  Silver  and  Platers'  Metal 

In  Sheet,  Wire  and  Tubing, 

Brass  Kettles  and  Basins,  Rivets  and 

Burrs,  Eyelets,  Jack  Chains, 

Measuring  Tapes,  etCf 

125  Eddy  St.,  Providence,  R,  L 

p.  p.  PARSONS,  Agent. 

MARTIN,  COPELAND&  CO. 

•       MANUFACTURERS  OP 

SOLID  GOLD  CHAINS 

Plain  and  Engraved  Band  Rings, 
No.  9  Maiden  Lane,       60  Richmond  St , 
New  York,  N.  Y.         Providence,  R.  I. 

JAS.  A.  CHARNLEY, 

Hkadquartbrs  roR 

FANCY  FIGURED  FLAT  STOCK 

Which  can  be  used  in  the  Manufaciure  of 

Builons,  Bar  Pins,  Bangle  and 

Bugle  Bracelets,  etc., 

118  Dorrance  St.,  Providence. 

TBLEPROmt  CONNSCTIOM. 


STINBARIl  Oil  CO 

26     B  ROADWAY, 


Nkw   York. 


PROVIDBNOE)   OKFIOBj 


81  Dyer  St.,  Providence,  R.  I, 


ESTABLISHBD  1829. 


W.A.BOBmSQI&CO. 

Manufacturers  of 

^perni^^WlittleOil, 


Sperm  Candles,  Oil  Soap,  &c., 

ALSO, 

COMMISSION  MERCHANTS, 

AND   DEALERS   IN 

Lard,  Red,  Paramne  and  Coal  Oils, 

Potato,  Wheat  and  Corn  Starch, 

Cotton,  Cotton  Goods,  &c., 

10  SOOTH  WATER  STREET, 

PROVIDEiVCg,  R.  L, 

50  SOOTB  WATER  STREET, 

NEW  BEDFORD,  1188. 


S.  3.  ©Ro^n, 

Gas  and  Kerosene 
Fixtures, 


Bronzes,  Antique,  Brass  and  Fancy  Gooda, 

Wood  Mantels,  Grates  and  Art  Tiles 

of  every  manufacture, 

176  and  178  Westminster  St., 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

D.  Russell  Brown.  H.  Martin  Brown, 

Charles  H.  Child. 

Brown  Bros.  &  Co. 

GENERAL 

*i^iII*Furm5Ker5* 

No.  37  EXCHANGE  PLAOE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Specialties— Leather,  Raw  Hide,  Cotton 
and  Rubber  Beltings,  Laue,  Picker  and  Belt 
Leather,  Ring  Travelers,  Belt  Hooks,  Wirt 
Goods,  <fcc.,  Roll  Coverers'  Stock  and  Tools. 


Fbamk  &  Manton,  Agent. 


Henry  C.  Cbakston,  PreiideaL 


Geo.  Metcalf,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


Esrr-A-BXjisxiiEnD  lesT-. 


American  Ship  Windlass  Co. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Original  and  only  Builders  of  the  celebrated  "Providence"  Steam  and 
Hand  Windlasses  and  Steam,  Crank  and  Power  Capstans^for  Steam  and  Sailing 
Vessels.  Yachts,  Tugs,  Wrecking  Boats,  Elevators,  Dry  Docks,  &c.  And  also, 
Winter's  Patent  Hawse  Pipe  Stoppers  and  Wharf  and  Ferry  Drops. 


SSTABLISHED  1864.  INCORPORATED  1888. 

Win.  A.  Harris  Steam  Engine  Co. 

(Successors  to  WM.  A.  HARKIS.) 

PROVIDENCE,  R  I.. 

BUILDERS  OP 


HarrtB-Corbss  Enmne^ 


FBOM  20  TO  2000  HOUSE  TOWEB. 

These  Engines  are  carefully  built  of  best  materials  and  in  different  forma^ 

such  as  Non-Condensing,  Condensing  and   Compound   Condensing. 

Send  for  copy  of  "  Engineers  and  Steam  Users'  Manual," 

by  J.  W.  Hill,  M.  E.    |1.25.    Mention  this 

book,  and  send  for  Catalogue. 

WM.  A,  HARRIS,  Preset  and  Treas. 


WM.  H.  MILLER  &  SONS, 

Blacksmiths^ 

Uachineand  Tool  Forging  of  all  Kinds, 

No.  194  and  196  EDDY  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
Telephone  CooQ^-ction. 


NATIONAL 
TUBE*  WORKS, 

Rear  270  Dyer  Street. 


THEODORE  H.  COLVIN, 

MANUFACTUKER  OP  ALL  KINDS  Or 

Machinery  Castings, 

HovsE  Work  a  Specialty, 
150  COVE  STREET,  PR0V1D£.\CB,  R.  I. 
Telephone  844-4. 

W.  J.  KodS.  J.  T.  Hbi^h. 

PROVIDENCE  SCALE  CO. 

Dealers  in  Hay,  Coal,  Railroiid.  riatform, 
Counter  and  Abattoir  &»t:AL,KS.  Also, 
Beam,  Spring  Balances,  Alarm  Money 
Drawers  and  Coffee  Mills.  All  kinds  of  re- 
pairing a  specialty.    Telephone  14-3. 

5  Washington  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


A.  B.  PITKIfl, 


ESTABLISHBD  1804. 


OF  ALL  KINDS, 

4  to  12  Cove  Street, 

and  28  to  32  EDDY  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


ProYidence  Lead  Co. 

THOS.  PHILLIPS  &  00.,  Proprietor!, 
Manufacturers  of  and  Dealert  in 

Lead  Pipe, 

SHEET  LEAD, 

TIN  and  TIN  LINED  PIPE, 
Iron,  Copper,  Brass  Goods 

AKD 

PLUMBERS'  SUPPLIES, 

75,  77,  79, 81  and  85 
South  Main  St., 

and  8  and  10  OEAWFOED  ST., 
PEOVIDENOE,  E.  I. 


MANCHESTER  &  HUDSON. 

AGENTS  FOR- 

STANDARD 

AKRON 

SALT  GLAZED 

,SEWER  PIPE, 

lgainsttheworld' 


Wholesale  aad  BeUil  Dealers  ia 

MASONS'  MATERIALS 

OF  ALL  KINDS, 

Offices: 
354  EBDT  and  35  WEieOSSET  STS, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Yard  Foot  of  Elm  Street 

W.  H.  Manchester.    Jas.  8.  Hudsoiu 


WM.  H.  FENNER  &  CO. 

Fupnaces  V  Hinges 

House  Furnishing  Goods.    Plumbers  and  Metal  Roofers. 

BBOAD  STREET,  Cor.  of  Eddy^ 
Pro^ridence,  It.  I. 


Fidelity  and  Casnalty  Co. 

OF  NEW  YORK. 

Tickets  and  Policies  coyer  Bpecial  Indemnity 
llows: 


Features  as  foil 


FnU  Faee  of  Polloy. 


Vor  loai  of  both  hands, 

"      of  both  feet,  " 

"     of  one  hand  and  one  foot,         "  " 

"      of  both  eyes,  "  " 

■'      of  one  hand  or  of  one  Ibot,  one-third  the  Face 

or  PoUoj. 
For  disabling  injuries  other  tbAn  abore,  Fifty-two 

Weeks  indemnity. 

Honest  Insurance  at  Honest  Bates, 
iiple  Secnritj.Conrteoiu  Treatment,  Prompt  Payment. 

L  W.  GODDING,  General  Agent, 

No.  27  Custom  House  Street, 

Room  27, 

PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 

INDUSTRIAL    INSURANCE. 

John  Hancock  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co. 

OF  BOSTON,  MASS. 

The  only  company  wliose  policies  are  all  in 

Immediate  Benefit. 

J.  K.  VOSHELL,  Superintendent, 

Ho.  45  Westminster  Street,  FBOVISEKCE,  B.  I. 

HERBERT  L  EDDY, 

DEALER  IN 

Pianofortes,  Organs, 

Sheet  Music  and  General  Musical 
Merchandise. 

Bole  Agent  for  Behr  Bros.,  Wheelock,  Mason  it  Ham- 
lin,  and  other  first-class  Pianos,  and  the  world-re- 
Bowned  Mason  &  Hamlin,  Packard  Orchestral,  and 
ether  reliable  organs. 

Warerooms,  283  Westminster  St., 

Hoppin  Homestead  Building.      FBOVIDEITCE,  B.  Z. 

Tuning  and  repairing  in  all  its  branches. 

TELEPHONE  CONNECTION. 

J.  HERBERT  SHEDD, 
CIVIL  ENGINEER, 

Xo.  74  Westmiaster  Street,  FBOVICEKCE,  B.  X. 

Next  east  of  Arcade. 

Consulting  Engineer  on  all  questions  relating  to  the 

ueof  Water,  Steam  or  Air  in  Manufacturing  or  for 

other  uses.    The  development  of  Mill  Property.    Water 

works,  sewerage,  hydraulics. 


W.  H.  H.  TYSON  &  CO. 
Real  EBtatBj 

FIRE  AND  MARINE  INSURANCB, 

Wllooz  BnUding,  opposite  Post  Office, 

6  Cutom  Eooae  Street,  PBOVDE^CE,  B.  L 

OBGANIZED  1851. 

The  BerksUre  Life  Insurance  Co. 

PITTSFIELD,  MASS. 

H.  A.  L.  POTTER,  Jr.,  Agent, 
Boom  SI,  Tanghan  Building,  Prorldenoe,  B.  L 

ROBERT  P.  GIFFORD, 

45  WESTltmSTEB  STBEET,  FB0VISE17CS,  B.  L 

The  Provident  Life  and  Truat  Co. 

Philadelphia. 

JOEL  M.  SPENCER,  Jr. 

42  WE7S0SSET  STEEST,  FBOVISENCE,  B.  L 

General  Agent, 

New  England  Mutual  Life  Ins.  Co. 

Boston,  Mass. 

JOHN  R.  DORRANCE, 

Fire  Insurance  Agent 

9  Weybosset  Street,  FroTidence,  B.  L 

'mm  mmm^im'^M 

B.  FBAITE  FABODIE,  Insurance  Agent. 
Life  and  Accident  Policies.    The  Most  Lib- 
eral of  any  Written. 

Room  10, 4th  Floor,  Botier  Exchange,  Providence,  B.  I. 


l..a 


■?a5i«i«s- 


•.<fe;,if'. 


^\'/^ 


HORACE  B.  KNOWLES, 

DHDERTAKERandEMBALMER, 

95,  97  and  99  ITOBTE  UAIH  STBEET, 

FB07ISEHCE,  B.  I. 

Connected  by  telephone.     Residence,  18 

Arnold  St    Office  Bell  answered  at  night. 


Corfiss  Safe  Aif^«  ^om^an^f 


,F*ROVlDE>NOEi,     RHODR    IsL-AND, 


Manufacturers  of  the 


4>CELeBRHTED«' 

^o{\xM  ©uf  dkf  Pf  oof , 


THE    ONLY    BURGLAR    PROOF   STRUCTURE    IN 


EXISTENCE. 


HENRY  S.  HUNT  &  CO., 

DEALERS  IN 

Old  Iron,  Metals 

AND    RAGS. 

2,&&      Dyer     Strket, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Telethon*  1343-9. 

HALKYARD  MFG.  CO. 
L&cing  |Ioo\^ 

and  Bi>a^^  jloVeltiB^, 

38  Friendship  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


l:SXA.BX.ISBBJ>  isg«. 

STILLMAN  WHITE, 

Brass  -'-  Founder, 
mi  Bark  St,  Providence,  R.L 

Sole  Manufacturer  of 

S.  WHITE'S  LINING  METAL 

BLODGETT  &  OESf  ELL  CO. 

Manufacturers  and  Importers  of 

Fine  •Slazed*  Yarns, 

AND  SPOOI^  ooTnroN, 

SPECIALTY  :    Glazed  Yarns  in  all  Numbers 

and  Colors,  Domestic  and  Foreign,  for 

Manufacturers  of  Ribbons 

and   Bindings. 

64  Broad  Street  and  75  East  Ayenne, 

PAWTUCKCT,   R.  I. 
E.  G.  Blodgett,  E.  W.  Orswbll, 

Prest.  TwM. 


The  Massachusetts  Mntoal  Life  Ids.  Co. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

J.  F.  Haktwkll,  General  Agent. 

Tfo.  48  Weybosset  Street,  Providence,  R  L 

Tb«  sUte  Uw  provides  for  •  lurrender  valnein  ouh. 
Tlie  CMh  value  maj  be  claimed  and  recovered  from 
tlte  Company,  "  after  the  payment  of  two  tall  annaal 
yrtratanw  tkeroon." 


DANIEL  McQUAID, 

CigarB^TabaccOj  Etc. 

AND   IMPORTER  OP 
WINES   AND   IiIQUOBS, 

126  and  128  CHARLES  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


^^      ///if 
/ 


N.  MOLTER'S  SONS, 


(©HBBI^ 


^ 


LiAGBP^ 

BBBf^ 


Office,  14  to  20  Potter  St., 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Giiines 


Importer, 


'▼'▼'▼'▼'▼'▼' ▼'▼'  ▼'▼'▼' 


i^*"^'^ 


115  to  (17  PINE  STREET, 

COR.  POTTER, 

PROA'IDEXCE,  R.  I. 


P. 


I 


I 


28  and  29 


SOUTH  WATER  ST., 


Providence,  R.  I. 


McKenna  ® 
m  &  Conaty, 

GINGER,  QUINCE 


AXD 


fruit  Pliospliate, 


ILL  SUMMER  BETERiGES, 


5  Cypress  Street, 
ProYldence,  R.  I. 


R.  I.  Brewing  Go. 


Manufacturers  of 


H»VIBNNA4- 


Pflline 


Tie  B 


Providence,  R.  I. 


IMFDRTERS 


-«JLNIIs«- 


JOBBERS^ 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Central  Hotel, 

ON  THE  EUROPEAN   PLAN. 

No.  6  Ganal  St,  FrovidenGe,  B.  I. 


Booms,  50,  75  and  fl.OO  per  day :  heated  bf 

steam.    Elerator  running  all  night. 

Meals  served  at  all  hours,  day  or  nii^t. 

Strictly  Temperance  Hotel. 

House  RcTer  Closed. 

BENJ.  S.  HOPKINS,  1  p,„„^^^„ 
ELLERY  SEARS,    '  |  Proprietors. 

Agency  for  all  Steamship  Lines  to  and 
from  Europe  and  San  Francisco. 


Geopge  Finck, 

138  PINE  STEEET  (oor.  Page), 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


Keily  Hrdtherb, 


Cedar  street,  -  -  -  Providence,  R.  I. 


GREENE  &  CO. 


ImportersvJobbers 

No.  58  ORANGE  STREET, 

Providence,  E.  I. 

HOPKINS  TRANSFER  CO. 

OFFICES:  No.  i  Boston  Depot, 
and  164  Westminster  St. 

Facilities  Dusnrpassed 

For  Handling  Baggage. 
Calls  and  Deliveries  Made  Regardless 
of  Time  or  Location. 
NELSON  HOPKINS,  Manager. 

P.   V/.  BAXTER, 

MANUFACTUKER  OF 

FIRE  UND I  BURGLAR*  PROOF 

Bank    Vaults,    Iron    Doors,    Shutters    and 

other  Iron  Work.    Also  Dealer  in  all 

the  most  approved  Bank  and  Safe 

Locks.    All  kinds  of  Safe  and 

Lock  Repairing. 

Particular  attention  paid  to  opening  Safes  In 
case  of  Lock  Up. 

43  Lippitt  Street,   Providence,  R.  I. 

Down  Town  Office,  Uechanic's  Exchange. 
Telephone,  1044-3. 


Impartersi^^ 


Eun^ 


•^  Jabbers^ 

No.  82  Brook  Street, 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 


Greene  &  Cook, 

ilmperlers, 

44, 45  and  46 

EXCHANGE  PLACE 


JACOB  WIRTH, 


•IMPORTER  OF 


RHINE|WINES,|CURETS 

and  MINERAL  WATERS, 

BOSTON;  37  and  39  Eliot  Street.4^ 

PROVIDENCE:  186  Broad,  2 and  6  Potter  Streets. 
McKKNNA   BROS. 


MANUFACTURERS  AND  BOTTLERS  OF 


MINEIULL    WATERS, 

No.  54:  EagIvK  Stre^kx, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

T.  E.  HICKEY  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

SODA  AND  MINERAL  WATERS, 

Ginger  Ale,  Tonic  and  Birch  Beers, 

Corner  South  Main  and  Planet  Streets, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


E.  J.  DBAN, 

(Successor  to  E,  H.  Hakvey,) 

Rhode  Island  Bottling  Establishment 

315  FOUNTAIN  ST.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

1^^ 

Manufacturer  of  Soda  and  Mineral  Waters. 


TONIC  BEER, 

Honleii,  }[op  \  Go. 

SARSAPARILLA. 

* 

SULLIVAN  BROTHERS, 

IMPOI^IPEI^S, 

Fruit  V\^\\[% 

'<P 

376  WICKENDEN  STREET. 

80  Exchange  Place, 

PROVJLDJ!]NOB,  B.  I, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 

LEMON  SODA, 

BIRCH  BEER. 

The  Providence  Bottling  Co. 
Genepal  Sottleps, 


25  and  27  Peck  St., 


Providence,  R.  I, 


JOHN  E.  GOOD,  Treasurer. 


0MA7  i  TAFT,  JR.,  i  CO. 


Vanufactdkrbs  or 


STARCH  AP  GUMS 

'    WiBter  Wheat  Starch  a  Speeialtf, 

62,  63,  64  and  65 
South  Water  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

For  Baking  of  all  Kindsy  use 
FLEISCHMANN  S  CO.'S 
Compressed  Yeast,  Supplied 
fresh  Daily  to  Grocers  everywhere 
Special  attention  is  invited  to  our  Yellow 
label^  which  is  affixed  to  every  cake  of 
our  yeasty  and  serves  to  distinguish  our 
goods  frdm  worthless  imitations.  Fac- 
tory Depot,  81  BRIDGHAM  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.  /.  E.  Searles, 
Sales  Agent.     Telephone  421 — -j*. 

ios.  66.  68  and  70  WasbiogtoD  Street, 
Thos.  Miller,  Prop.       Providence,  R.  L 

A  first-clast  bill  of  fare.  Good  accommodations, 
rive  minutes  walk  from  Depot,  Post  Office  and  all 
Theatres  and  Music  Hall.  Special  rates  for  Theatrical 
Companies  and  Travriers. 

Francis  T.  Uodsworth,  Manager. 
Established  1865. 

Buttan's  Restaurant 

JOHN  A.  SUTTON,  Proprietor, 

55  WEYBOSSET  STKEET. 


M.  W.  TILLINGHA8T, 

-sRestauranti^ 

No.  12  WEYBOSSET  STREET, 

PBOTIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Ryder  Brothers  &  Co. 

WHOLESALE 

SALT  DEALERS, 

Duncans  Wharf, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Edward  M.  Young.  Ezra  P,  Lyon 

ESTABLISHED  1802. 

YOUNG  &  LYON, 

—— DEALERS    IN 

Teas,  Coffees,  Spices,  &c., 

flope  Block,  22  N.  Main  St,  Providence,  R.  L 

Commission  House  Establistied  in  tbe  Tear  ISflL 
P.  M.  BUKBOTJQH,  (Successor  to  R.  S  Burrougfc 
&  Co.),  81  Dyer  Street,  (Up-Stairs,)  OIL,  COT> 
TON,  SOAP,  Ropes  Process  Double  Pressed  Saponl* 
fled  Oil,  Standard  Brands  Lard  and  Soap  Oils,  Sperm, 
Olive,  Cylinder,  Parrafflne,  Machinery.  Extra  Staple 
Cotton  for  mixing  with  WooU  Imported  Soap*  tat 
Worsted  Tarns  and  Goods. 

L.  A.  IILIIIIGHASI, 

No.  231  Westiinster  Street, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

CHA8.  F.  PIERCE, 
W00l,*llf00kWQ8t6, 

Shoddies  and  Garnetted  Stock, 
No.  9  Exchange  Place, 

PEOVIDENOE.  E.  I. 


STARKWEATHER  &  WILLIAMS, 

DEALERS  IK 

Dr^UGS,^  Chemicals,*  ^ainips, 

AND 

Artists'  and  Ptiotographlc 

IVEaterials, 

25  Exchange  Place,  PROVIDENOE,  R.  L 


EDWIN  E.  CALDER, 

Profeasor  of  Chemistry  in  Boston  University, 

Analytical  and  Consulting  Chemist, 

H  ft  15  Board  of  Trade  Building, 

Telephone  1063-2.         PROVIDENCE,  IL  I. 

Pwticatar  attention  given  to  the  examination 

of  water  for  drinking  purposes. 

KSTABLISHED  1869. 

AUSTIN'S  COUGH  SYRUP, 

A  Bare  and  Certain  Cure  for  Coughs,  Colds,  Bronchitis, 
Sore  Throat,  Pleurisy,  Pneumonia,  Asthma,  Hoarse- 
ness, Influenza,  and  a  Relief  for  Incipient  Consump. 
tion.    Prepared  by 

Stglsterel  Pharmacist.         Ko.  415  Broad  Street. 


ESTABLISHED  1840. 


OTIS  CLAPP  &  SON, 

Maanfaotiirers,  Importen  »nd  Dealers  In 

HonKBopatUc  Goods 

307  Westminster  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


I'-A-I^ISZEI^  <Sb  CO- 

Manufactdbsbs  and  Dealkss  w 

White  lead,  Zinc,  Genuine  Colors, 

Linseed  Oil,  Painters'  Supplies,  Ac. 
63  South  Main  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

millard  mfg.  co. 
Df^uggisjps'  SUNDJ^IBS, 

Factory,  47  Sprague  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

MaBadaeUirers  of  Syringes,  Atomizers,  kdA  aim 

Workers  in  While  Metal. 

CLOUGH   &  COMPANY, 

Haip  IDressePs, 

97  Weybosset  St.,     Providencef  R.  I* 

UURAUNE, 


None  genuine  -without  the  red  and  black 
label.  The  black  to  be  read  through  th« 
bottle. 

Bewar«  of  Imitations. 


WILLIAM  B.  BLANDING, 

54  and  58  Weybosset  Street, 

IMPOBTBR  AND  DEALER  IN 

Drugs,  Medicines,  Chemicals, 

and  DRUGGISTS'  SUNDRIES, 

Soxgical  Instruments,  Trasses,  CrBtehes,  Elastic  Knee  Caps  and  Stockingi^ 
Abdominal  Belts.     Special  sizes  to  order  at  short  notice. 

TUDCr    DCTAII     CTHD  CQ     68  Weybosset  St.,         48  North : 
I  nnLL    nL  I  nIL  O  I  UnLO|  and  375  High  street. 

AGENTS  FOR  STRAITON  &  STORM'S  CIGARS. 


ProTidence  Brown  Stone  Co. 

DEALERS  IN 

MBBIE,  LONGMEADOW  AND   PORTLAND 

Brown  Stone, 

Ohio  and  Nova  Scotia  Sand  Stone 

Yard  and  Office,  11  Harris  Ave. 

Box  at  Mechanics'  Exchange. 
F.  C.  MARKHAM,  Agent. 
Telephone  Conneotion. 


GARYEY  BROTHERS, 

CONTKACTOKS  AHD  DkALKKS  IH 

All  Kinds  of 

Building  and  Foundation  Stones  Fur- 
nished  at  Short  Notice. 

Quarries  at  Oneco,  Coun.,  on  line  of  N.  Y. 
&  N.  E.  R.  R. 
Estimates  flrom  Plans  and  Speciflcatfons 

Furnished  bj  Retarn  Mail. 
QfBce;    No.  9  Custom  House    Street. 

MECHANICS'  EXCHANGE, 

'"'llfTorX^lZs!'  PROVIDENCE,  B.L 


GEO.  LCLAFLIN  &  CO. 

DRUGGISTS'  SUNDRIES.  FANCY  GOODS. 

6S,  64  &  66  S.  MAIN  STRKKT, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

RETAIL  DEPARTMENT,  -  56  and  58  South  Main  Street. 


JOim  D.  LEWIS, 

Robert  B.  Chambers. 
Gko.  6.  Caldbr.                Wh.  H.  Baxxou. 

IMPORTKE 
ASJ>  UANUFACTUBSB  OF 

Dyestuffs, 

CHAMBERS,  CALDER  &  CO. 

DEALERS  Df 

Dyewoods, 
Chemicals 

DFJUGS, 

— ^AND— 

Chemicals,  Dyewood,  Paints,  Oils, 

Dyewood  Extracts, 

Yarnlshes,  Window  Glass,  &c. 

3  &  4  Exchange  Place 

PROVIDENCE.  R.  1. 

% 

AOENTS  FOB 

JEWETT&  SONS' 

WHITE  LEAD  AND  OIL, 

MILL8: 

U  and  12  Exohange  Plaoe, 

Charles  and  Bark  Streets. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  1. 

ESXABLISHKD   1846. 


T.  p.  SHEPARD  &  CO. 


[EDWARD  D.  PEARCE.] 


y2<aR«f<a®t«riRg  ^  ©demists, 


♦  >*<♦ 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

OFFICE,  No.  81  DYER  STREET. 
WORKS:-'LAURELDALE  CHEMICAL  WORKS,  Promenade  Street 


fi|Fii;»!|irj|,»^^ 

E.  W.  BARROW^S 

-^pbarmaeisti*- 
No.  709  HIGH  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

BAKER'S*  PORE*  LEMON 

PHOSPHATS, 

A  Spedflc  for  Dyspepsia,  Neirousness,  Wake- 
ful and  Urinary  Difficulties. 

A  COMPLETE  BRAIN  &  NERYE  FOOD 

MannfMtared  only  hy 

CHRYSTAL  CHEMICAL  CO. 

PBOYIDSNCS,  B.  I. 

P.  O.  Box  124. 


WM.   W.    HANDY, 

BOTANIC  DRUGGIST 

WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL. 

A  Large  Assortment  of  Fresh  Gathered 

ROOTS,  HERBS,  AND  BARKS, 
No.  161  BROAD  Street, 

Opp.  aty  Hotel,  PROVIDENCE,  R,  I. 

N.  R— Tinctares,  Fluids,  Extracts  and 
Perfumery  at  RetalL 


SANITARY  ♦GYMNASIDM, 


I.  H.  SMITH,  Supt. 


9  Aborn  Street,  ProYidence,  R.  L 
Russian  and  Tarklsh  Baths. 

Swimming  ScbooL 


J.  LiPPiTT  Snow,  Prest. 


P.  O.  Box  1297. 


Newton  Earlb,  Treat 


SNOW  &  EARIvK  CO. 

(INCORPORATED.) 

Iijdip,  flddder,  GocMneal,  Dp-Ioods, 

,    CHEMICALS,  ETC., 
No.  8  Exchange  Place,  Providence,  R.  L 


SOLE  AGENTS 

Ragle  Dye  tfi^opks 

DYERS  AND  FINISHERS  OF" 

COTTON   FROM   THE  BALE. 
FAST  BLACK  A  SPSCIALTY. 


AGENTS  OF 

WM.  PICKHARDT  &  KDTTROFP, 

:  ARTIFICIAL: 

ALIZARINE,  ANILINES, 

DYES,  PIGMENTS,  EXa 


Sole  Agents  R.  I.  KNITTING  CO. 

MANUFACTUEERS  OF 

Fine  Merino  SMrts,  Drawers  and  Stockings. 


PROVIDENCE 


Dping,  BleoGliii 


AND 


Meiiderli  Go. 

No.  531  VALLEY  STREET. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Bleachers  and  Finishers  of  Fine 

White  Goods,  Shirtings,  &c. 


Eabx.  Philip  Mason.    Wm.  P.  Chapin. 

Samuel  L.  Peck.     Edw.  £.  ABNOUb 


Hasoi],Gliapii&Co. 
Dye  Ms4- 


•— j^i>rD — 


-^-Chemicals, 

88  to  87  Canal  St.,  Pmldence,  L  L, 
08  Pine  St.,  New  York, 
141  A  Milk  St.,  Boston,  Mass.  ' 


C.  p.  DABLINQ. 


F.  Q,  WAIjLIS. 


C.  p.  DARLING  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

PACKING  BOXES  AND  BOX  SHOOES, 

SPRUCE  AND  PINE  CLOTH  BOARDS, 

Colanuu  for  Factories,  Maple  Logs  for  Bleacheries  and  Print  Works,  on  hand  and 
Turned  and  Bored  to  order. 

OFFICE-WORKS.  CHARLES  ST..  PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 

TsLBPHONB  Connections #  Bear  Silver  Spring  B/eacher/. 

-^RHODE  ISLAND*^- 

Bleach  and  Dye  Works 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


»« <♦►»<■ 


JAMES  WHITTLE,  JOHN  G.  HANRAHAN,  Proprietors. 

IliB  ^  Pro  vMenGe  ^  Littiopopli  ^  Compdnij, 

No.  31   PEARL  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


KANUFACTUREnS'  LABELS  A  SPECIALTY- 


G«o.  Sampson. 


Wm.  E.  Murdock. 


SampsoH,  Hnrdock  &  Co. 

Directory  PuI)Ii$Ker5 

54  N.  MAIN  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
OL  I>i  W.  Marcjr.  D.  W.  C  White. 


T.  S.  HAMMOND, 
Printer  ^^  and^  Stationer 

89  Weybosset  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Headquarters  for  Books,  Stationery,  Toys 
and  Periodicals,  Gold  Pens  and  Pencils. 
Stylograph  and  Fountain  Pens,  Opera  and 
Field  Glasses,  Bibles  and  Prayer  Books, 
School  Boolcs  and  Supplies,  Trareling 
Bags,  Lawn  Tennis,  Croquet,  Base  Balls. 
Importers  and  Jobbers  at  Wholesale  and 
Retail.  The  Rtiode  Island  News 
Company,  113  and  IIB  >Arest- 
minster  Street. 


INTERS  STINQ  TD  THE  FDLICE. 


Policemen  are  so  mnch  exposed  to  every  kind  of  malady  and  accident  that 
it  is  of  service  to  them  to  tell  them  of  what  has  been  proved  really  valuable 
to  members  of  the  police  force.  In  Burlington,  Vermont,  as  well  as  in  manj 
other  places  the  policemen  always  keep  PERRY  DAVIS'  PAIN  KILLER  on  hand, 
because  they  find  it  such  a  potent  remedy  whether  for  cramps  caused  by  ex- 
posure to  Summer  heat,  or  sprains  and  bruises  caused  by  falling  on  the  Winter 
ice.  Mr.  Horatio  M.  Price,  a  well  known  policeman  of  Burlington,  thus  tells 
what  the  Pain  Killer  did  for  him: 
"  Messrs.  Perry  DA\as  &  Son  :  "  Burlington,  Vermont. 

"  Gentlemen : — I  take  this  way  to  let  my  brother  policemen  and  all 
others  know  that  when  they  are  afflicted  with  such  troubles  as  I  have  had, 
Perry  Davis'  Pain  Killer  is  the  medicine  that  they  want.     I  have  been  sub- 

i'ect  to  cramps  in  my  stomach  and  have  been  attacked  with  cholera  morbus. 
[  tried  a  good  many  other  remedies,  which  failed.  But  I  got  your  Pain  Killer 
and  tried  that.  I  used  it  according  to  directionn,  and  I  will  deem  it  a  favor  if 
you  will  say  that  it  perfectly  cured  me.  I  have  since  that  tried  it  for  bruises 
and  scalds  and  cuts.     I  have  never  found  any  remedy  so  efficient. 

"  Yours  truly,  "  Horatio  M.  Peicb." 

The  Chief  of  Police  thus  vouches  for  Mr.  Price : 

"  The  above  named  Horatio  M.  Price  is  a  regular  policeman  now  on 
the  force  in  this  city. 

"  L.  A.  Drew,  Chief  of  Police  of  the  City  of  Burlington." 

Swan  ^omm  (©bmbipei^y, 

OFFICE— Brock's  Bui/ding,  35  H.  Main  St.,  Providence,  B.  I. 

«  •  ' 

^^  URI AL  LOTS,  under  perpetual  care,  can  be  selected  at  the  Cemetery, 
^13  where  persons  are  in  constant  attendance  to  wait  upon  visitors.  An 
omnibus  will  be  run  from  Blackstone  Park,  at  the  terminus  of  the 
Governor  Street  horse-car  route,  to  the  Cemetery.  For  time  table  refer  to 
the  daily  papers.  For  further  information  apply  to  Timothy  McCarthy, 
Superintendent,  at  the  Cemetery,  or  to  the  undersigned,  at  No.  36  North  Main 
Street,  Providence. 
TELEPHONE  CALL.  SAMUEL  H.  FIELD,  Treasurer. 


KOR- 


Gymnastic   Apparatus 

— :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::L::::::::::::""r^^^^^  — 

OK    AIvL    KlINDS, 

INDIAN  CLUBS,  PULLEY  WEIGHTS,  DUMB  BELLS. 

PARALLEL  BARS,  HORIZONTAL  BARS, 

VAULTING  BARS,  LOCKERS,  BOWLING  ALLEYS^ 

SEND  FOR  CATALOGUE  TO 

NARRAGANSETT  MACHINE  CO., '' iZT^J^l^^' 


HOPKINS,  POMROY  &  CO. 

WHOLBSALK  AKD  KSTAIL  DKAI.ESS  IN 

COAL  AND  WOOD 

Office— No,  35  ^ATeybosset  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


COAL  PIERS- 


Eddy  Street  and  184  Djer  Street 


PROVIDENEE 


Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 

ANTHRACITE 

and  BITUMINOUS 


GOAI:,S 


Plymouth  Coal  for  Family  Use 
a  Specialty, 

YARDS 

Cor.  DORRAXCE  AND  DYER  STS., 

CENTRAL  OFFICE 

Cor.  Custom  House  and  WeybossetSts. 


T.  V.  Moffeson. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WOOD 


HAY,  STRAW  AND  SRAIH, 

216  to  224  Charles  Street, 

PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 


'       R  B.  LITTLE  &  CO. 

COAUAND^^WOOD, 

CENTRAL    OFFICE: 

No.   61  WESTMINSTER   STREET, 

YARDS— 13  Point  Street  and  39  Pearl  Street. 


General  Trans-Atlantic  Steamship  Agency 

« 

CABIN  BERTHS  SECURED  AT  SHORT  NOTICE. 


STEERAGE  TICKETS  BY  ANY   LINE   ON  APPLICATION  TO 

Gboroe  K.  Lkkxe,  Agent, 

No.  72  \Vestminster  Street. 


DBAFTS  ON  ENGLAND,  IRELAND,  ETC.  LETTERS  OF  CREDIT,  FOE  TEA 
AVAILABLE  IN  ALL  PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


PrOTidence  Line.  Stonington  Line. 

Providence  and  Stonington 

STEAMSHIP  CO. 
O— :  BETWEEN  o 

Kew  York,  Providence  &  Boston 

AND  ALL  POrNTS 

NORTH,  EAST,  SOUTH  AND  WEST. 

BLEGANT  STEAMERS 

BHODE  ISLAND  and  MASSACHUSETTS 

Daily  except  Sunday. 

O.  H.  Briggs, 
Gen.  Pass.  Agt. 


J.  W^MirxER, 

Gen.  Mgr. 


Continental  Steamboat  Co. 

(RED  LINE.) 

Steamers  for  all  Shore  Besorts 
and  Newport. 

A.  LIVINGSTON  MASON, 

General  Manager, 


rn  ri  TT  T      AT  CiLRB-D     *     * 
LiIJa.1j      -^     -*     «.  PRIGEE 

JOHN  R.  WHITE  &  SON, 

Central  Office,  No.  16   Westminster  Street. 

No.  167  INDIA  STREET, 


WHARVES 


■■{ 


and  Opp.  60  SOUTH  WATER  STREET. 


ROBERT  E.  SMITH  &  CO.   • 

DEALERS  IN 

COAL,  WOOD  AND  KINDLINGS, 

Carefully  prepared  for  Family  Use, 

78  South  Water  and  1  Weyhosset  Streets. 


New  York  and  New  Eng'land  Railroad. 

flew  fTagt  ^v>(3Lmg 

.  BETWEEN 

TUPBtan  and  pravidBncB 

Six  nevN^  E^xppess  T'pains. 

Leave  Boston  9.25  A.  m.,  3.15  and  5.45  p.  m.  Returning,  leave  Proyidencet 
(Providence  and  Worcester  depo^  9  a.  m.,  1  and  5.45  p.  m.  These  trains  will 
ran  through  in  1^  hours,  stopping  only  at  Valley  Falls. 

Schedule  of  all  Trains. — Leave  Boston  for  Providence,  8.30  and  9.25  A.  M., 
12.26,  3.15,  5.30  and  5.45  p.  m.  Leave  Providence'for  Boston,  8.05  and  9  A.  M^ 
12  M.,  1,  4.30  and  5.45  p.  m.  Trains  leave  and  arive  at  Providence  &  Wor- 
cester Eailroad  depot,  Providence.    Depot,  foot  of  Summer  Street,  Boston. 

A.  C.  KENDALL,  Gen'l  Pass.  Agent. 
E.  P.  VINING,  Traffic  Manager, 

New  York  &  New  England  Eailroad,  Boston. 

Merchants'  %  Miners'  TranspartatiDn  Co. 

Providence,  Norfolk  and  Baltinfiore  Steamship  Line. 

The  most  desirable  route  from  New  England  for  Norfolk,  Newjjort  News,  Fort  Monro*, 
Richmond,  Va.,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  Baltimore,  Md.  Distance  Bound  Trip,  twelve 
hundred  miles,  of  delightful  health-restoring  Sea  Aik  Sailing  by  fiirstHdasa  ocean 
passenger  steamers. 

SAHma  EYEB?  WESITESDA?  AND  SATIJBDA7.    HOUBS  OF  DEFABTUBE,  6  O'CLOCZ  F.  IL 
FASSEKGEB  FABES  VEB7  LOW. 

FREIGHT  CONNECTIONS  made  for  all  principal  point*  South,  West  and 
Southwest.  Through  Bills  of  Lading  issued  at  the  Lowest  Ruling  Rates.  F&r  other  infoz^ 
mation,  rates,  etc.,  apply  to 

E.  H.  ROCKWKLIv.  Aoent. 
GEO.  J.  APPOLD,  President,  Office,  Lonsdale  Wharf,  India  St.,  Providence,  R.  1. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.                      HENRY  A.  WHITNEY,  Vice-Prest., 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

NO  WHARFAGE.  LOW  RATES. 

WINSDR'S  LINE  STEAMERS 

ONLY  DIRECT  LINE  TO 


Sailing  from  Ives'  Wharf,  India  Street,  Providence,  every  WEDNESDAY  and  SATUl^ 
DAY,  at  3  p.  M.,  and  from  Philadelphia,  same  days,  at  12  m.  Connects  with  PennsylTaafal 
Kailroad,  and  Philadelphia  and  Ocean  S.  S.  Co.,  for  Savannah.  Freight  forwarded  to  all 
points  South  and  West. 

JSS-  Attention  of  Shippers  is  called  to  the  fact  that  this  is  the  ONLY  LINE  OF 
STEAMERS  plying  between  Providence  and  Philadelphia. 

Mark  Goods  WINSOR'S  LINE.    For  further  information  apply  at  the  office. 

GEO.  A.  KILTON,  Agt„  HENEY  WINSOE  &  00.,  Agts., 

Ives'  Wharf,  India  St.,  Providence.  333  South  Wharves,  Philadelphia,  Pt. 


Oi^JO  Goi:,onv 


^Rlh^HORD. 


THE  CHEAT  HIGHWAY 


— :FI^03^^ — 


PROVIDENCE 


-TO- 


-fBOSTON4- 


Lowell,    Fitehburg,    Ne^v    Bedford,    Fall 

River,  New^port,  Plymouth,  Cape  Cod, 

the  Islands  of  Martha's  Vineyard 

and    Nantucket,   and  all 

points  in  Southeastern 

Massachusetts. 


PioifWence  { Woieester  1 1 


PjA.sse:nge:r  trains 

Connect  «t  Providence  with  Steamers  to  and  from  New  York,  Newport  and  Rockf  Point, 
with  trains  of  the  8toningtou  aud  Shore  Line  for  New  York,  New  Haven,  Hartford,  Provi- 
dence and  Springfield,  Taunton  and  New  Bedford  and  Boston  and  Providence  R.  R. 

At  Valley  Kails  with  trains  of  N.  Y.  A  N.  E.  R.  R.  to  and  from  Milford,  Franklin  and 
Boston ;  at  Waterford,  for  Putnam,  Southbridge,  Willimantic,  New  Haven,  New  York  and 
Philadelphia. 

At  Union  Depot,  Worcester,  with  Boston  &  Albany  R  R..  for  Springfi*'ld,  Albany.  Troy, 
Saratoga,  BuBaloand  the  West;  with  Worcester,  Nashua  and  Rochester  R.  R.  for  Nashua, 
Concord,  Plymouth,  Littleton  and  the  White  Mountains;  with  Fitchburg  R.  R.  for 
Princeton,  Gardiner.  Keene,  Bellows  Falls,  Hoosac  Tunnel  Line,  Montreal,  etc. 

THE    WHITE    MOUNTAIN     EXPRESS 

Will  run  during  the  Summer  months,  commencing  June  25,  leaving  Providence  with  Par- 
lor Car  to  and  Irom  Fabyan.  Excursion  Tickets  will  be  sold  at  reduced  rates.  Call  at 
Ticket  Offices,  or  send  to  Charles  Howard,  Superintendent,  for  the  New  Excursion  Book 
for  1888. 

r^  R  E  I  Gr  H  a' 

Will  be  forwarded  with  Promptness,  making  good  connections  with  all  the  Steamers  of  the 
Providence  and  Stonington  Line  to  and  from  Ne 


few  York,  and  with  all  the  Railroads. 


Through  Rates  to  all  Important  Points. 

OFFICERS— M.  B.  J.  Goddard,  President,  Providence,  R.  L;  W.  A.  Lette,  Treasurer, 
Providence,  R.  I.;  Charles  Howard,  Superintendent,  Providence,  R.  I.;  J.  M.  Williams, 
General  Freight  Agent,  Providence,  R.  I.;  John  San  ford,  Liocal  Freight  Agent,  Providence; 
O.  H.  Briggs,  General  Passenger  Agent,  Providence. 


PiovldeiiGe  \  Spiingfield  11.  B. 


WM.  TINKHAM,  President  and  Gen'l  Manager. 


Wm.  A.  Wheelock,  President 


Henry  D.  Lyman,  Vice  President. 


American  Surety  Company 

CASH    CAPITAL,        -        -        -       -        $1,000,000. 

BONDS  i.--sue<l  r>r  officers  «nd  entplovees  of  Railways,  Banks,  Tilegrapii  Companies,  Express  Companies, 
and  parties  •^mployed  by  Corporati">ns  and  Business  Houses  or  holding  positions  of  trust;  also  Bonds  of  Adminis- 
trators, Gnardians,  Receivers,  Assignees,  Undertakings  on  Appeal,  etc..  etc.  It  is  the  only  company  organised 
In  the  I'nitrJ  States  devoted  exclusively  to  tJuretyship.     It  is  the  largest  company  of  its  kind  in  the  world, 

Bhode  Xshnl  Department,  Sichard  B.  Comstock,  27  Custom  Eonse  St.,  Providence,  B.  L 


INSURE 
IN 


BTJ-Z-    THE    DBESir. 


Of  Hartford, 
Conn. 


It  has  $10,000,000  assets,  $2,000,000  surplus.    The  largest  and  strongest  accident  company  in 
the  world. 

IT  ISSUES  ACCIDENT  POLICIES  FOR  $5,000, 
Giving  V'.O'Xi  in  event  of  death,  i;5,'J'  0  for  loss  of  two  eyes,  85,0W  for  loss  of  two  feet, 
ib,(m)  for  loss  of  two  hands.  $5,000  for  loss  of  one  hand  and' one  foot,  $1,666,66  for  loss  of  one 
foot,  $1,666,66  for  loss  of  one  hand,  $^5  per  week  for  disabling  injury.    Proportionate  benefits 
for  policies  of  any  amount*    J.  A.  EEACH,  Agent,  29  Weybosset  8t.,  Providence. 


ALBERT  L.  CALDER, 

PBOPBISTOB  or 

■^C  ALDER'S -5i-s- 

SAPONACEOUS  DENTINE, 


Ho.  183  Nortb  Main  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

Dr.   A.   T.   KIRBY, 
-4'©entist4^ 

243  Westminster  St.,  Cor.  Mathewson, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Gideon  Spencer.  Kemiah  A.  Wood. 

SPENCER  &  WOOD, 

DENTISTS, 
269  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Dr.   M.   Y.  SIMMONS, 
QentaU  Rooms, 

232  Westminster  St.,  ProTidence,  R.  I. 

First  House  above  Grace  Church. 

N.  B.  WHITAKER, 
H^DBNiniSJiT-**- 

ITo.  805  Westminster  Street, 
■~: {?i:'J^JL'       Providence,  R.  I. 

WILLIAM  BARKER,  D.  D,  S. 

283  Westminster  Street. 

Beppin  Hom«ttead  Bnilding, 

ProYidenc,  R.  L 


DR.  G.  H.  AMES. 
DKNTIST, 

No.  57  SNOW  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

WILLIAM  B.  MEAD, 
249  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Drs.  A.  B.  &  E.  P.  Hawes, 

-4»  DENTISTS*^ 

No.  88  WESTMINSTER  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

THE  FARABDN 

SHIRT  MFG.  CO. 

A.  A.  BEATTIE,  Propr. 

(Late  with  Samuel  Busd,  New  Tork^ 

Custoni  (Hid 


A  SPECIALTY, 

146  WESTMINSTER  STREET, 

Wilkiiton  BoOding.  PEOTIDSSCI,  L  L 

Orders  attended  to  at  Customer's  Offlee 
or  Kwidence. 


C  C.  Gbat,  Superintendent, 


J.  £.  BuGBEE,  Treasurer. 


vfficr^  »      I 


n. 


I^Kode  ilsland  "Printing  (Company. 

62  Weybosset  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 


GEO.  F.  CHAPMAN  &  CO. 


Book  and  Job  Printers, 

62  Weybosset  Street, 

and  27  Pine  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Mmond  Paper  Co. 

PROVIDENCE.  R.I. 

llANUFACTUKKBS  OF 

Machine  and 

Super-Calendered 

Boole  Papers 


Engine  Sized,  Flat  and 
Envelope  Papers. 


SULPHITE   FIBRE. 


Ijvermore  &  K^^ight; 

IIMMflllllltlMIHHIIMIMI^H 

i  ant*:  lErrgiratafjera 

74  "Weybosset  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

BUEEB  PUBLISHING  CO. 

Artistic  Job   Printing, 

25  per  cent  sared  on  all  work. 

19  Westminster  St.,  Providence,  R.  L 

PRANK  N.  SHATV, 

printer  and  3^ubttsf|^» 

54  M.  Main  St,  Providence,  R.  /. 

Commercial  and  Society  Work  a  Specialtj. 
Ribbon  Badges  made  to  order. 

-fppintep4^ 

188  Eddy  Street. 

Providence,  R.  I. 

p.  O.  BOX  1466. 

Union  Debenturs  Company^ 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

WHIPPLE  V.  PHILLIPS,  State  Agent 

Tor  Shade  Island, 
>?VILCOX  BUII^DIKO. 


Fidler  Bros.  &  Fessenden, 

Hats,  Caps, 

STRAW  GOODS, 

UMBRELLAS, 

AND  GLOVES, 

132  and  134  Westminster  St., 

PROVIDENCE,  B.  J. 


F.  C.  BALCOM, 

Hats,  Caps  &  Gentlemen's  Furnishings,, 

No.  49  Dorrance  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
Agency  for  the  Acme  Steam  Laondkt. 

F.  HARTMAN, 

The  hatttkr, 

62  Westminster  Street. 


Arnold,  Sullivan  &  Henley, 

1.7  AA^E^SXIVLINSTER.  ST., 

CUSTOM  BOOT  MAKERS 

Mens  and  Boys  Footwear 
Exclusively. 


COLTON,  VAN  ZILE  &  MULVEY, 

Cor.  Westminster  and  Union  Sts., 

Dealers  in 

Fine  *  Footweap, 


Ladies',  Gentlemen's  and  Children's  Walking  Boots  in 
Special  Designs  and  New  Styles,  at  the  Lowest  Prices. 

SEE  OUR  "POLICEMEN'S  SHOES." 

Colton,  Van  Zile  &  Mulvey, 


S.  C.  JAMESON, 


DEALER  IN 


^IRST-CLASS 


Boots,  Shoes  and  Slippers 

CORNER 

Westminster  and  Eddy  Stf^eets. 


8ISS0N,  POTTER  k  CO. 
Boots  and  Shoes,. 

61  PINE  STREET. 

Atlantic  Boot  and  Shoe  Store, 

41   MANTON  AVE., 

Opposito  Delane  UlUs  Office,     0LKE7VILLE,  S.  L. 

WILLIAM  F.  FOLLMAR, 

Air^ni  for  Troy  St^enm  I^anndry* 


E.  WIN80R  &  CO. 


DEALERS  IN 


ClRmm  JIKERS' 

Blaclsmitbs'  Sapplies, 
1-3-5  Eddy  Street, 

PROYIDENCE,  B.  I. 

J.  E.  CRANDALL, 

-FLIGHT**- 

Carriage  ^^MannMnrer, 

Cor.  Worcester  and  Union  Sts., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


J.  M.  Ryan. 


E.  J.  Sullivan. 


Ryan  &  Sullivan, 

MANUFACTUBSBd  Of 

N.  B.— Repairing   done   at   reasonable 
rates  and  satisfaction  guaranteed. 

No.  36  FOUNTAIN  STREET, 

ud  74  and  76  CLEMEXCE  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I., 

T.  W.  ROUNDS  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

Fine  Coach  and  Single  Harness, 

101  and  103  N.  Main  Street. 


NELSON  T.  CABANA, 

DKALER  IN 

HARNESS,  WHIPS 

And  all  kinds  of  Horse  Clothing  and 
Carriage  Trimmings  at  Lowest  Prices, 

S66  Tallej  Street,  Jaaction  of  High  St.  ud  Broadway. 


R  MouItoD. 


W.  P.  Moullon,  2d. 


ESTABLISHED  1849. 


MOULTON  &  SON, 

Successors  to  Moulton  &  Remington, 

Carriage  Manufactnrers, 

174  Eddy  and  100  Dorrance  Sts. 

N.  B.— Closest  attention  paid  to  Carriage 
Repairing.  Also,  makers  of  Hose  Carts  and 
Ladder  Trucks  for  Fire  Purposes.     • 

ELIOTT'S 

Gdirioge  Eepositori} 

139, 141  and  143  BROAD  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 


Fine  Carriages,  Harness,  Sleighs,  Robes  and 
Horse  Clothing  always  in  Stock. 


C.  FARNUM'S  SON, 
HARNESS 

—AND — 

HORSE  CLOTHING, 

38   Exchange   Place. 

WILLIAM  T.NICHOLSON,  JR. 
COMMERCIAL  PAPER, 

Local  Stocks,  Bonds  and  Investment  Securi- 
ties Bought  and  Sold  in  all  Markets. 

Room  44,  55  Westminsfer  St 

JOHN  S.  HUGHES, 

Furnishiog:  Undertaker  and  Erabalmer, 

WA<hiROOMS-.\o.  56  SMlTfl  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
Telephone  Connection # 


PfOTidence  Steai  Lanndry 


AND 


New  York  Carpet  Beating 
and  Steam  Cleansing  Works, 

Mrs.  E.  J.  SMITH,  Propr. 

106  Hospital  St.,  Cor.  of  Langley. 

EUSSELL  MFG.  CO. 

913  and  921   Eddy  Street. 

RnsselFs  White  Drops 

FOB 

CHOLERA  INFANTUM, 

WIND  COLIC, 
And  all  Troubles  of    Infants, 

For  Sale  by  all  Druggists. 

ESTABLISHED  1880. 


Star  *  Carpet*  Cleanings  Works, 

26  CALENDER  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

PRICE  LIST: 


ROYCE,  ALLEN  iS^  CO. 

Ifanufacturers  and  Importers  of 
All  Kinds  of 

LAHIES' 

Dress  and  Cloak  Buttons, 

66  STEWART  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


New  York  Office: 
Hos.   419-21   BROADWAY, 

Boston  Office:    ' 
403  WASHP^GTO^  STREET. 


t  cU.  per  rnnnins  yard  for  cleaning  Woolen  Carpcw, 
"  "  "  Tapestry  or  Brussels. 

"  "  "  Wiltons,  Velvets,  &o. 

square  yard  Turkey  Rugs  or  Carpets. 

running.yard  for  layiffg  rooms  «r  halls. 

flight  and  upwards  "for  laying  Stair  Carpet«. 

yard  for  taking  up  Carpets. 

Telephone  1317-5.    All  Expressing  Free. 


J.  E.JONES  &  CO. 

DBALEHS  IN 

DruiniFoneii  Goods 

20  to  26  ARCADE, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  i. 

N.  E.  Trade  Supply  Co, 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

Fine  Ciewlng  Gums 

STICKY  AND  POISONOUS 
Gilt  and  Fine  Electro  Plate  Jewelry, 

16  Edwin  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Lamps,  Oil  Stoves 

AND 

Kerosene  Goods 

OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION. 

A.  W.  FAIRCHILD, 

lO    AND   12    ARCADE. 


j5.uburn  Ice  Cninpany. 


PERRY  G.  SWEET,  Proprietor. 


Office,  Central  Hotel,  No.  6  Canal  Street 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


ESXABLISHKD  1822, 

EARL  CARPENTER  &  SONS, 
DEALERS  *IN*ICE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 


POSNEGANSETT  ICE  CO. 

WM.  R.  ARNOLD,  Treaa. 

Wholesale  &al  Setafl 

HEALERB  IN  ICE, 

FROM  POSNEGANSETT  LAKE. 

Allowance  for  absence  is  made,  when,  in 
each  case,  tbe  time  of  absence  ia  not  less  than 
«ne  week.  Telephunk  21-5. 


JP^OB. 


DAfID  F.  SHERWOOD,  Agent,  362  Washington  St. 

THOMAS  QUINN, 

FnrnishiDo;  Undertaker  and  Embalmer, 

Office  and  Warerooms, 

16  Orm:s  Stresx. 

Thomas  E.  Noonan,  Manager. 

A.  RHODES, 

DEALER  IN 

FINE  MILLINERY  GOODS 

OF  EVKBY  DESCRIPTION, 

166  Westminster  St|  Providence,  R.  I. 


Fire  Insurance 

APPLY  TO 

Samuel  aove*  Son 

THE  OLDEST  AGESCT  W  THE  STATE. 

1  Custom  House  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


FOWLER  BROTHERS, 

Mannfactarert  and  Patentees  of 

ENGLISH  CRAPE  STONE 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

MARTIN  F.  CARROLL, 

Fire  Insurance  Agent 

ROOM  2, 14  WESTMINSTER  v.REET, 

PROVIDENCE.  R.  I. 


Established 


Telephonb  Coknectiow. 


A.   B.   RICE  &  CO. 


EASTERN  AND 
WESTERN 


LUMBER 


AT  WHOLESALE 
AND  RETAIL, 


210  Cranston  St.,  Cor.  of  Gilmore, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


GEO.  W.  LEWIS, 

Contractor  for 


AND 

^^^Stncco  Woi'k 

IN  ALL  ITS  BRANCHES, 
Repairing,  Calcimining,  Teaming  of  all  Kinds, 

8  GILMORE  STREET, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

FRANK  F.  CARPENTER, 

DBALER  IN  ALL  KIXDS  OF 

EASTERN  AND  WESTERN 

Ji  umber. 

Also,  Conductors,  Mouldings,  Gutters, 

Shikglks,  (lap-Boards,  Laths, 

PiCKKTS,  Posts,  <&c., 

No.  22  BRANCH  AVENUE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


JU  Kinds  o/  MILL  WORK  Done,  to  Order. 


E.  R.  RANDALL, 

Planing  and  MonldiDg  Mill 

FOOT  OF  SOUTH  STREET, 
PROVIDENCE,   R.  I. 

L.  VAUGHN  &  CO. 

MANUFACTURKRS  OP  AND  DEALERS  Ilf 

Doors,  Sash,  Blinds, 

Mouldings,  Door  and  Window  Frames, 

Stair  Builders'  Supplies,  Fancy 

Glass,  &c.   Sawing  and 

Turning  Done  at 

Short  Notice. 

585  and  587  HIGH  ST., 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.  * 


PRESBREY  &  MYRICK, 

manufacturers  of 

Kegs  and  Packing  Boxes  of  all  Descriptions 

CONTRACTORS,  BUILDERS  AND  JOBBERS, 

PINE  KINDLINGS  CONSTANTLY  ON  HAND, 

SUMMER  STREET,  Corner  Meadow, 
PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


A.   W.   HARRIS  „,,,f,cTURED  A-W-»A«»« 

Valve  OIL      --      Engine  OIL 

A.  AA;^.  HARRIS  OIL  CO. 

OFFICE  AND  WORKS,  110  and  111  South  Water  Street, 
PROVIDENCE,   R.  I. 

Thos.  J.  Hill,  Pres.  and  Treas.         Geo.  J.  Hazard,  Agent         Albert  Hill,  Secretarj. 


Providence  Machine  Co. 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

IMPROVED  COTTON  AND  WORSTED 

Rdviitb  Frames 

COTTON  COMBERS  AND  LAP  WINDERS,       ' 

Worsted  Spmning  Frames  and  Twisters,  Fluted  Bolls,  Flyers,  Spindles, 
Gears,  Bolsters,  Gaps,  Tubes,  Etc.,  Etc. 

No.  564  Eddy  Street,  -  Providence,  R  I 


CHARLES  H.  FIELD, 

MannfactnrHig^MaGbiDist, 


Browi's  Patent  Foot  Power  Machiaerj, 

Soaette  Eogine  Turning  Lathes,  and  Fine 
Tools  Generally, 

Mo.  42  POINT  STREET. 


Alva  Carpenter.  Hehry  C.  Bowbk. 

CARPENTER  &BOWEN, 

IRON  FOUNDRY, 

Ho.  85  Aborn  Street, 

PR  O  VLDENCE,  JB.  L 


Wilson's  RoDBd  Pointed  and  u.  S.  Slandard 

RIN&  TRATELERB, 

BELT  HOOKS,  LOOM  FORKS,  SPINNING  FRAME  SADDLES 
AND  WIRE  SPECIALTIES, 

Ho.  7  Eddy  Street,  ProYidence,  R.  I. 


F.  A.  CHASei  &  GO. 

general  TVtiU  furnisbers. 

Manufacturers  of 

Ring  Travelers,  Wire  Goods 

AND  SPECIALTIES, 

7  Eddy  Street, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

MT.    O.    TA.I-COTX. 

Sole  Proprietor  and  Manufacturer  of 

WILSON  AND  COMBINATION  PATENT 

BELT*  HOOKS. 

Alio  Dealer  in 
—  OENKRAL  — 

MILL  SUITLIES, 
14  Sabin  Street. 


TalQott'i  Comblnad«a 
Patent  Belt  Hooks. 
P.  O.  Box  1445. 
•  i'lrphone  Conneetion. 


The  Improved  Greene  Engine 

With  its  PATENTED  Devices  is  Manufactured  SOLELY 

BY  THE 

ProvirfeiiGB 

StBQIIl 


Rathbone  GABDiraaa,  President  T.  W.  Phtlmps,  Secretarj. 


The  only  Liberating  Valve  Gear  without  Springs,  Catches  or  Wedges.    Steam 
Valves  Closed  by  Steam  Pressure.    No  action  on  Governor  when  Tripping. 

Warren,  Salisbury  &  Nightingale, 

Importebs  of  and  Dealers  in 

IRON  AND  STEEL 

WAREHOUSE : 

Junction  of  Cove,  Worcester  and  Eddy  Sts. 

JOHN  HOPE, 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 

Machinist  and  Engraver 

BUILDER  OF 

Pantograph,  Mill,  Shading,  Punching ^nd  Grounding  Machines. 

Vamishin?,  Tnrning-Off  and  Polishing  Lathes,  Clamps,  &c    Also  famish 
Diamond  Points,  Zinc,  Gravers'  and  other  Engravers'  Supplies. 


EUGENE  F.  PHILLIPS,  President. 


W.  H.  SAWYER,  Secretary. 


•^•AMERICAN-^ 

Electrical  Works, 


Insulated  Electric  Wirei^^ 

■^Faraday  Cables,  &c. 

0 

l^f^OVIDENGE,  FJ.  I.- 


XHK 


Corliss  Steam  Engine  Co. 

Incorporated  Jone,  1856.    Established  by 

GEORGE  H.  CORLISS, 

INVENTOR  OFTHE  CELEBRATED 

"CORLISS  ENGINE" 

Designer  and  Builder  ot  the  Famous 

/'CENTENNIAL  ENQINE/' 

Exhibited  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition,  ?876. 


The  public  will  understand  that  we  have  no 
relations  with  American  or  European  Builders  of 
so-called  "Improved  Corhss  Engines,"  and  that  the 
final  and  perfected  Engine  of  Mr.  George  H.  Corliss, 
embodying  his  latest  ideas,  is  to  be  obtained 
exclusively  at  our  works. 


Also  Manufacturers  of 

BOILERS,  MILL  GEARING  AND  IRON  CASTINGS. 


ESTABLISHED  1872. 


NOEL  L.  ANTHONY,  JOHN  A.  COWELL, 

Proprietors. 


ANTHONY,  COWELL  &  CO. 

Wholesale  aitd  Retail  Dealers  ts 

Karpets,  Stoves,  Fiirnitiire,  Grockery, 

And  GENERAL  HOUSE  FURNISHING  GOODS, 
199  to  205  Broad  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Ici  on  Parle  Francais. 


H.  W.  LADD  &  CO. 

Importers  and  Retailers  of 

Fine  Dry  Goods 


The  Choicest  Productions 

IN 

SILKS,  SATINS,  VELVETS 

AND 

High-Class  Dress  Fabrics. 


H.  W.  LADD  &  CO 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 


Ke^ith  &  Jacobs, 


Gaiety 


pGPa®F>©MgG, 


192  Ve$tmin5ler  SI.,  ProviJence,  I(.  I. 

THE  PALATIAL  HDU5E  DF  THE  EAST. 


playing  ^irst^^G^QSS 

jStttraetions  >}^  >}^ 

f^t  Popular  prices. 


TVlatinees  Qverxf 
^  ^  7^onda5/',\/V)ednesda5f 

and  Saturdaj/*. 


BOX  OFFICE  ALWAYS  OPEN 
SEATS  CAN  BE  SECURED  BY  TELEPHONE  No.  474. 


'JACOBS  &  KEITH,    -------       Sole  Manaf^rerv. 


n^^  t^     t^      9f     iAl 


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